As we wrap up our Cooking Week on Engadget, my purchase of a milk frother is just one part of the Engadget team’s surprisingly broad selection of essential small kitchen gadgets — big spenders can scroll down to Breville’s bonkers induction cooker.
But back to me: Nespresso’s Barista Recipe Maker heats and froths your milk (or milk alternative) simply to upgrade your espressos or moka coffees into flat whites, cappuccinos and more. I’ve owned mine for a couple of years, and I love how easy it is to clean. The spin mechanism is magnet-based, too, so it’s less likely to break and should last plenty of summers filled with iced macchiatos.
We’re also cheerleading digital scales, a not-so-digital Microplane and some other coffee-making upgrades. For all the other kitchen-centric stories this week, you can find them here.
Melvin Capital couldn't survive the meme stock wars.
Melvin Capital, the hedge fund considered the nemesis of the meme stock affair encompassing GameStop, Blackberry and several others, is shutting down. Investors were told the "appropriate next step" after steep losses was to liquidate assets and return cash to investors. Its public bet against GameStop and other struggling companies made it one of the largest victims of a GameStop-centric investing spree by people coordinating across Reddit and social networks. As a result, the fund reported a 53 percent loss in January 2021.
The 55-inch Element Roku TV is coming to Walmart.com for $1,300.
Roku has joined forces with Element to create a 55-inch outdoor TV, the companies announced. The Element Roku TV looks nigh-on identical to Element’s existing 55-inch Patio TV, just with a different OS. It offers a good but not spectacular 700 nits of brightness, along with 4K streaming and HDR. More importantly, though, it has tempered anti-glare glass to combat reflections and IP55 weather protection.
US safety regulators are now probing more than 30 incidents.
Another Federal probe into Tesla's Autopilot system is underway. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking into more than 30 incidents involving Tesla's Autopilot.
This follows an accident with a Model S, which occurred on May 12th in Newport Beach's Mariners Mile strip. The EV reportedly struck a curb and ran into construction equipment, killing all three occupants. Three construction workers were also sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police declined to say whether Tesla's Autopilot was involved.
HP is bringing upgrades and updates across practically all of its premium notebooks, including clamshells and 2-in-1s. The two stars of the updated Envy line are the Envy x360 13.3-inch and the Envy 16-inch. There are OLED display options for both, and all of the new Envy laptops are also getting upgraded 5-megapixel webcams with head tracking and beamforming mics to help you look and sound your best during video calls. You even get native handwriting recognition and a hidden magnetic stylus mount on the side of the system.
Whether it’s a single burner or a full cooktop, induction tops heat faster than regular stovetops and offer more precise temperature control. Yes, yes, you can get a standalone burner for under $100, but there’s also Breville’s PolyScience Control Freak: a $1,500 induction device that reaches exact temps quickly and holds them there. The burner has a temperature range of 86 to 482 degrees Fahrenheit (30 to 250 Celsius). This gives you the option of everything from low-heat slow cooking to high-temp searing. We had to try it.
The long-awaited PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt once again has a release window. The new edition, which is also coming to PC, is expected to arrive in the last three months of the year, according to CD Projekt Red. It will be a free upgrade if you own the respective last-gen version on PC, PS4 or Xbox One.
Airbnb makes news for a mix of good and bad reasons. When it’s not expanding the service to make it easier to stay between multiple properties on the same trip, its safety team (and terrible rentals) are becoming the subject of a documentary series.
Now, according to a report from Curbed, April 2022 apartment rental inventory in Manhattan, Brooklyn and northwest Queens numbered 7,699 units. That compares to somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 entire-apartment or entire-home Airbnb listings across all of NYC, as calculated by AirDNA and Inside Airbnb.
New York City prohibited short-term rentals (less than 30 days) in multi-unit buildings without the owner present since 2011, making it illegal to even advertise such listings in 2016. The report hasn’t traced whether Airbnb hosts are following these guidelines.
Airbnb hasn’t solely caused the NYC housing shortage – an issue seen in most ‘desirable’ cities across the world. In New York, rents are going up, and permits for new apartments are down by “a double-digit percentage” said Airbnb’s spokesperson.
However, the optics of having more Airbnb listings than rentable apartments are not good.
The technology reportedly blinds satellites and destroys drones.
Russia is reportedly testing out new technology on the battlefield as it continues its invasion of Ukraine. According to a Reuters report, the Russian government says it's using a new wave of laser weapons. One weapon, a destructive laser called Zadira, can apparently burn up drones. Deputy prime minister Yury Borisov said that in one test, it incinerated a drone 3.1 miles away within five seconds. A more established system, Peresvet, reportedly blinds satellites up to 932 miles above Earth.
NASA's Mars InSight lander will soon no longer be able to send back data and images. It's been gradually losing power for a while now as dust continues to accumulate on its solar panels. The darker skies expected in the next few months — also due to having more dust in the air — won't help either.
The space agency believes the lander will no longer be able to sustain its seismometer by the end of summer.
The new Fire 7 has double the RAM of the previous generation and is powered by a quad-core processor that's 30 percent faster. It also has 40 percent more battery life and can last for up to 10 hours while browsing and watching videos. Unlike previous Fire 7 models, it now comes with a USB-C port instead of a micro-USB. One day I’ll shut up about USB-C, I promise.
The Fire 7 is available in black, denim and rose and will set you back at least $60. It will start shipping on June 29th and is available to preorder now.
The group's leader was the target of harassment and threats.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has "paused" a Disinformation Governance Board just three weeks after its April 27th announcement. Officials reportedly decided to shut down the board on May 16th, but that decision appears to be on hold after a last-minute effort to retain board leader Nina Jankowicz. She resigned from the board and the DHS today (May 18th). Far-right influencers and media outlets portrayed the board as a censorship tool and villainized Jankowicz. The campaigns led to harassment and threats against the board leader.
Sony’s LinkBuds S are apparently designed for a "never off wearing experience," with transparency mode allowing you to tune into your surroundings as needed. Unlike the open-ear LinkBuds that debuted earlier this year, the LinkBuds S have a more "traditional" closed design, with a shape that’s more similar to Sony's flagship WF-1000XM4 buds. These, however, are much smaller.
The LinkBuds S are up for pre-order now, with general availability starting May 20th.
We’ve tested a lot of Macs (and even iPads) running on Apple’s M1 chip. But now we have the M1 Ultra and power to burn. As a quick reminder, the M1 Ultra fuses two M1 Max chips together to give you a processor with 20 CPU cores and 64 GPU cores — yikes. That comes with up to 128GB of RAM, ensuring it’s one of the fastest processors ever in Engadget’s offices — or at least WFH offices and spare rooms.
Engadget’s Chris Schodt, our Upscaled series host, assembled a list from readers and YouTube viewers aimed at pushing the new chip as hard as we could. Think Adobe Lightroom and Premiere Pro, Davinci Resolve and Fusion, 3D modeling in Blender, machine learning tests like TensorFlow and Pytorch, and some gaming. Of course.
However, Apple's M1 ecosystem still feels, at times, unfinished — Chris experienced a few strange bugs, and software compatibility can still be an issue. Check out his full test over on the latest episode of Upscaled.
The all-electric campus' design focuses on sustainability
Google
Google has finally opened its Bay View campus to employees almost 10 years after revealing its initial plans for the new facility. It's the first Google campus the company has developed itself, and it’s covered in a "dragonscale skin" of 90,000 silver solar panels capable of generating almost seven megawatts of energy, or up to 40 percent of the new offices' energy needs.
Google has launched an Interview Warmup tool that uses AI to help you prepare for interviews. The site asks typical questions (such as the classic "tell me a bit about yourself") and analyzes your voiced or typed responses for areas of improvement. You'll know when you overuse certain words, for instance, or if you need to spend more time talking about a given subject.
With a long, hot summer of high gas prices imminent and the writing on the wall for two-stroke engines in your yard, what better time to electrify your lawn care equipment? Before you head down to your local home improvement center, here’s some advice on what to look for in an electric mower, directly from the people who design them.
'We have insiders in your government,' the Conti group said.
Last week, Costa Rica declared a state of emergency following a massive Conti ransomware attack on its government. Now, Conti has boosted its threat, saying its aim is nothing less than to overthrow the government. "We have our insiders in your government," the group said. "We are also working on gaining access to your other systems, you have no other options but to pay us."
As part of Cooking Week, we tested some of the most niche (and, in some cases, most ridiculous) kitchen gadgets we could find. We wanted to know if these impressive-looking appliances were actually worth the splurge. Alongside yesterday’s kinda-smart toaster, we tested Almond Cow, a big, high-powered blender with just enough moving parts to make alt milks at home, with an attached blade, a filter basket, a big base and a motor inside that makes all the magic happen.
Yo! Egg expects to have its products in restaurants by the end of 2022.
There are plenty of meat-free burgers and ‘chicken’ nuggets, but there aren’t many plant-based eggs. Sure, you can find powdered substitutes, but a whole egg with a runny yolk is a different bag. Yo! Egg claims to have developed the first plant-based poached and sunny-side-up eggs. Following a limited rollout in Israel, the company is bringing its products to the US.
Since its eggs are made from soy, sunflower oil, water and flour, they’re more sustainable to make. With one gram of protein, they’re not a one-for-one replacement for chicken eggs in nutritional value, but they don't have any cholesterol. We also need to taste them. Do they go well with hot sauce?
The Mustang Mach-E GT suffers from long-name syndrome – Ford just had to cram 'Mustang' in there, which has really angered some ‘classic’ Mustang owners on the internet. They can be mad all they want because the GT is a great addition to the family, even though it’s an electric SUV. Check out our test drive video.
I am not a chef. I’m not a cook. I’m barely a functioning male adult, but I wanted an air fryer. Not because I live on chicken fingers and fries but because there’s no quicker way for me to make crispy gyoza from frozen, to make relatively healthy (not-quite) fried chicken and douse it in fiery Korean sauces and sesame seeds. More broadly, air fryers have expanded my kitchen repertoire without forcing me to heat up my oven and time things meticulously.
The Engadget team called in a bunch of air fryers, complained about cleaning some of them and highlighted the best. The boring, measured advice is that the best air fryer for you depends on your own circumstances. Got plenty of kitchen space? Get the convection oven-styled ones. Living alone? You can get 80 percent of the benefits with the smallest pod air fryers.
My pro-tip? Reheated pizza. Try it in the air fryer and never look back.
In February, Apple unveiled Tap to Pay, a new feature for merchants to accept payments with only an iPhone. The company is already testing the feature in the wild… sort of. Staff are using the feature at the Apple Park visitor center in Cupertino, where customers can make an Apple Pay payment directly to an Apple staffer’s iPhone, with no payment terminal in sight.
Alongside ‘Ghost of Tsushima,’ there are some classics from the past.
Sony has revealed the first games to arrive with the launch of its new PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscription services. PlayStation Studios titles include Demon's Souls and Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, along with third-party games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and NBA 2K22. Those games will arrive in the "launch time frame," starting May 24th.
Premium members will also get access to classic games "with some titles that will show improved frame rates and higher-quality resolution compared to their original launch versions," Sony wrote. Think Ape Escape, Hot Shots Golf, Tekken 2 and Worms Armageddon, along with remasters like Dark Cloud and Rogue Galaxy.
Apple has released iOS 15.5 and its iPadOS 15.5 counterpart, with improvements to both Apple Cash and Podcasts. Cash users can now send and receive money from their card, while Podcasts users can automatically limit episode storage based on criteria like the number of shows or time since release. Oh, by the way, have you subscribed to The Morning Edition?
Uber Eats is testing autonomous deliveries, hard. The first pilot is an autonomous vehicle partnership with Motional, originally announced in December, and the second is with sidewalk delivery firm Serve Robotics, a company that spun out of Uber itself. Both in Los Angeles.
Trials are limited for now, with deliveries from just a few merchants, like the Kreation Organic Kafe and Juicery. Serve will do short delivery routes in West Hollywood, while Motional will take care of longer deliveries in Santa Monica.
Casting is underway for the upcoming episodes, according to 'Variety.'
Black Mirror is coming back. Variety reports Netflix has greenlit a sixth season, with more episodes than season five. It seems casting is in progress for an even more cinematic season than before.
Elon Musk is continuing to clash with Twitter over the accuracy of its bot count and hinted yesterday that he may try to renegotiate the $44 billion deal. According to a Bloomberg report, Musk told attendees at a Miami conference that a deal at a lower price wasn’t “out of the question."
Are you tempted by an air fryer, but fear you might just get another ill-fated kitchen gadget that takes up space in your tiny kitchen? We’re here to help you out. The air fryer, which comes in several different shapes and sizes, can be a versatile addition to many kitchens, once you know what it’s capable of.
First of all, let’s clear one thing up: it’s not frying. Not really. Air fryers are more like smaller convection ovens, ones that are often pod-shaped. Most work by combining a heating element and fan, which means the hot air can usually better crisp the outside of food than other methods. They often reach higher top temperatures than toaster ovens – which is part of the appeal.
For most recipes, a thin layer of oil (usually sprayed) helps to replicate that fried look and feel better. However, it will rarely taste precisely like the deep-fried version. Don’t let that put you off, though, because the air fryer, in its many forms, combines some of the best parts of other cooking processes and brings them together into an energy-efficient way of cooking dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch.
What to look for in an air fryer
Convection ovens
You can separate most air fryers into two types and each has different pros and cons. Convection ovens are usually ovens with air fryer settings and features. They might have higher temperature settings to ensure that food crisps and cooks more like actually fried food. Most convection ovens are larger than dedicated air fryers, defeating some of the purpose of those looking to shrink cooking appliance surface area. Still, they are often more versatile and most have finer controls for temperatures, timings and even fan speed.
You may never need a built-in oven if you have a decent convection oven. They often have the volume to handle roasts, entire chickens or tray bakes, and simply cook more, capacity-wise, making them more versatile than the pod-shaped competition.
The flip side of that is that you’ll need the counter space to house them. It also means you can use traditional oven accessories, like baking trays or cake tins, that you might already own.
Pod-shaped air fryers
Pod-shaped air fryersare what you imagine when you think “air fryer.” They look like a cool, space-age kitchen gadget, bigger than a kettle but smaller than a toaster oven. Many use a drawer to hold ingredients while cooking, usually a mesh sheet or a more solid, non-stick tray with holes to allow the heated air to circulate. With a few exceptions, most require you to open the drawer while things cook and flip or shake half-cooked items to ensure the even distribution of heat to everything.
That’s one of a few caveats. Most pod-shaped air fryers – there are a few exceptions – don’t have a window to see how things are cooking, so you’ll need to closely scrutinize things as they cook, opening the device to check progress. These machines also generally use less energy – there’s less space to heat – and many have parts that can be put directly into a dishwasher.
Some of the larger pod-shaped air fryers offer two separate compartments, which is especially useful for anyone planning to cook an entire meal with the appliance. You could cook a couple of chicken wings while simultaneously rustling up enough fries for everyone. Naturally, those options take up more space, and they’re usually heavy enough to stop you from storing them in cupboards or shelves elsewhere.
As mentioned earlier, you might have to buy extra things to make these pod fryers work the way you want them to. Some of the bigger manufacturers, like Philips and Ninja, offer convenient additions, but you’ll have to pay for them.
Fabián Ponce via Getty Images
Air fryer pros and cons
Beyond the strengths and weaknesses of individual models, air fryers are pretty easy to use from the outset. Most models come with a convenient cooking time booklet covering most of the major foods you’ll be air frying.
One of the early selling points is the ability to cook fries, wings and other delights with less fat than other methods. As air fryers need to circulate heated air, the trays and cooking plates have holes that can also let oil and fat drain out of meats, meaning less fat when you finally plate things up. For most cooking situations, you will likely need to lightly spray food with a vegetable oil. If you don’t, there’s the chance that things will burn or char. The oil will keep things moist on the surface, and we advise refreshing things with a bit of oil spray when you turn items during cooking.
Most air fryers are easy to clean – especially in comparison to deep or shallow fryer. We’ll get into cleaning guidance a little later.
With a smaller space to heat, air fryers are generally more energy-efficient than using larger appliances like ovens. And if you don’t have an oven, air fryers are much more affordable – especially the pod options.
There are, however, some drawbacks. While air fryers are easy enough to use, they take time to master. You will adjust cooking times for even the simplest things – like frozen fries. If you’re the kind of person that loves to find inspiration from the internet, in our experience, you can pretty much throw their timings out of the window. There are a lot of air fryer options, and factors like how fast they heat and how well distributed that heat is can – and will – affect cooking.
There’s also a space limitation to air fryers. This is not a TARDIS – there’s simply less space than most traditional ovens and many deep fat fryers. If you have a bigger family, you’ll probably want to go for a bigger model of air fryer – possibly one that has multiple cooking areas.
You may also struggle to cook many items through as the heat settings will cook the surface of dishes long before it’s cooked right through. If you’re planning to cook an entire bird or a roast, please get a meat thermometer!
The best accessories for your air fryer
Beyond official accessories from the manufacturer, try to pick up silicone-tipped tools. Tongs are ideal, as is a silicon spatula to gently loosen food that might get stuck on the sides of the air fryer. These silicone mats will also help stop things from sticking to the wire racks on some air fryers. They have holes to ensure the heated air is still able to circulate around the food.
Silicone trivets are also useful for resting any cooked food on while you sort out the rest of the meal. And if you find yourself needing oil spray, but don’t feel like repeatedly buying tiny bottles, you can decant your favorite vegetable oil into a permanent mister like this.
yulka3ice via Getty Images
The best way to clean an air fryer
We’re keeping things simple here. Yes, you could power cleaners from the grocery store, they could damage the surface of your air fryer. Likewise, metal scourers or brushes could strip away non-stick protection. Remember to unplug the device and let it cool completely.
Remove the trays, baskets and everything else from inside. If the manufacturer says the parts are dishwasher safe – and you have a dishwasher – the job is pretty much done.
Otherwise, wash each part in a mixture of warm water, with a splash of Dawn or another strong dish soap. Use a soft-bristled brush to pull away any greasy deposits or bits of food stuck to any surfaces. Remember to rinse everything. Otherwise, your next batch of wings could have a mild Dawn aftertaste. Trust us.
Take a microfiber cloth and tackle the outer parts and handles that might also get a little messy after repeated uses. This is especially useful for oven-style air fryers – use the cloth to wipe down the inner sides.
If Dawn isn’t shifting oily stains, try mixing a small amount of baking soda with enough water to make a paste, and apply that so that it doesn’t seep into any electrical parts or the heating element. Leave it to work for a few seconds before using a damp cloth to pull any greasy spots away. Rinse out the cloth and wipe everything down again, and you should be ready for the next time you need to air fry.
How to find air fryer recipes
Beyond fries, nuggets and – a revelation – frozen gyoza, there are a few ways to find recipes for your new air fryer. First, we found that the air fryer instruction manuals often have cooking guides and recipe suggestions for you to test out in your new kitchen gadget. The good thing with these is that they were made for your air fryer model, meaning success should be all but guaranteed. They are often a little unimaginative, however.
Many of the top recipe sites and portals have no shortage of air fryer recipes, and there’s no harm in googling your favorite cuisine and adding the words “air fryer” on the end of the search string. We’ve picked up some reliable options from Delish, which also has a handy air fryer time converter for changing oven and traditional fryer recipes.
BBC Good Food is also worth browsing for some simple ideas, as is NYT Cooking, with the ability to directly search for air fryer suggestions.
And if you have a killer recipe or unique use for your air fryer, let us know in the comments. What’s the air fryer equivalent of the Instant Pot cheesecake? We’re ready to try it.
Engadget picks
Best overall: Instant Vortex Plus
Instant Brands
You probably know the “Instant” brand from the line of very popular Instant Pot multi-cookers, but did you know that the company makes great air fryers too? We’re especially impressed by the Instant Vortex Plus with ClearCook and OdorErase, which features a clear viewing window so you can see your food while it’s cooking, plus an odor-removing filter. In our testing, we found that it didn’t completely eliminate smells, but it seemed significantly less smoky when compared to our Breville Smart Oven Air. We love the intuitive controls, the easy-to-clean nonstick drawer basket, plus the roomy interior – it’s big enough to fit four chicken thighs. Plus, it heats up very quickly with virtually no preheating time.
A slightly more affordable option is its predecessor, the Instant Vortex Plus 6-Quart. It lacks the viewing window and the odor-removing filters, but it still has the same intuitive controls and roomy nonstick interior. If you want an even bigger option, Instant also offers Instant Vortex Plus in a 10-quart model that has a viewing window and a rotisserie feature.
If you don’t have a lot of space or money to spare, Cosori’s Compact Air Fryer is a great option. As a 3.7-quart capacity machine, it doesn’t take up too much counter space and it can easily fit into a cabinet when you’re not using it. It has a traditional, square-ish pod design with a touch panel on the top half and a removable cooking basket on the bottom. I was impressed by how easy this air fryer was to use from start to finish. Learning how to program cooking modes and times was easy and using the basket is simple as well. It also has a handy release button that disconnects the basket from the base, which makes cleanup quick and simple. (Plus, the basket is dishwasher safe as well.)
This is a true air fryer in the sense that it has presets rather than a bunch of different cooking modes. It does have toast and bake, which are different from air fry, but otherwise you can choose from different food-specific presets like french fries, shrimp, frozen foods and more. While that’s not so great if you want a multipurpose device, it’s ideal if you’re just looking for an air fryer that can do exactly that very well. Not only was the Cosori machine fairly quiet, but it also only took between three and five minutes to preheat in most cases, and everything I cooked in it – from tofu nuggets to french fries – came out crispy and flavorful.
Most air fryers can make one thing at a time, but Ninja’s Dual Zone machine can handle two totally different foods simultaneously. Available in 8- and 10-quart capacities, the machine isn’t compact, so it won’t be a good option for those with small kitchens. However, if you have the counter space, it could be a good one to invest in especially if you cook for a large family. You can prep two different foods at the same time with totally different cooking modes, or use Match Cook to prepare foods in both chambers the same way. The heating zones are independent, so if you only want to fill up one side with french fries and leave the other empty, you can do that as well.
We appreciate how quickly the Ninja heats up (there’s little to no preheating time at all) and how it runs relatively quietly. It also has a feature called Smart Finish that will automatically adjust cooking times so that your chicken thighs in the first chamber and asparagus in the second will finish cooking at the same time, so you don’t have to wait for one part of your meal to be ready while the other gets cold. In general, dual-zone air fryers aren’t necessary for most people, but those who cook often will get a lot of use out of machines like this Ninja.
Oh my, it might actually be happening. I’ve wanted this for a while, and Apple’s excuses for sticking with its Lightning connector get weaker each year. Now a report from Bloomberg says the company is testing new iPhones and adapters with USB-C — what MacBooks and iPads already use.
An adapter currently in testing could "let future iPhones work with accessories designed for the current Lightning connector" — you may recall the in-box adapters that appeared when Apple nixed the headphone port from its smartphones.
It’s probably not entirely altruistic. The EU has been pushing for a universal phone charging standard for years and recently proposed legislation that would make USB-C the de-facto charging port for all phones.
It’s unlikely to be part of the iPhone 14, though. The report suggests the port change wouldn’t arrive “until 2023 at the earliest." Subsequent comments from reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggest this could be part of a wider move away from Lightning ports, also used on Apple’s AirPods, mice and keyboards.
Peloton’s long-rumored (slightly leaked) rowing machine was the major announcement of this year’s Homecoming fan event. Having said that, we didn’t hear all that much about it. Expect a stylish rower with a huge screen, with a red cord attaching the handle to the machine.
It can’t land soon enough: The company has struggled to adapt to the pandemic recovery as people return to the gym and the office. Peloton revealed a massive $751.1 million loss in its latest quarter.
The iPod's death has been a long time coming. It's already been eight years since Apple discontinued the iconic iPod classic, but the final iPod is bowing out of the company’s stores now. We all know it changed Apple's fortunes and the music industry at large, but the iPod was, eventually, a victim of its own success.
The legendary F1 outfit will acquire the Mercedes-EQ team.
Ahead of Formula E’s Gen3 debut next season, McLaren Racing announced its move to Formula E for season nine, committing to prepping a team when the series’ new spec makes its first competitive laps. McLaren will acquire the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team — the world championship team. Driver Nyck de Vries also won the individual series title in 2021 to complete the double trophy season.
Battle interdimensional monsters in 'Zenless Zone Zero.'
On Friday, games studio HoYoverse shared the first trailer for Zenless Zone Zero, an action RPG in a modern urban setting. The game pits players against Ethereal, monstrous creatures borne from another dimension. HoYoverse hasn’t explicitly said how it plans to monetize Zenless Zone Zero, but it sounds like the game will employ a similar system to the one in Genshin Impact —one of the biggest free-to-play hits in recent years, which has also made money at the same time.
When it comes to retro portable gaming, even the better handhelds usually only emulate the original PlayStation and N64 era. But if you’re a fan of the GameCube or PS2 libraries (and you should be), the number of handhelds capable enough, well-made enough and reasonably priced enough is small.
But here comes the Ayn Odin. Editor at Large James Trew has been intrigued by what seems to be a pretty cohesive handheld console, with similarities to the Switch Lite and Steam Deck. In many ways, it’s also very different.
The postal service started testing autonomous deliveries last year.
The UK's Royal Mail wants to set up 50 drone routes over the next three years to make deliveries to remote communities. The first communities to benefit would be the Isles of Scilly (off the coast of Cornwall in South West England) and the Scottish islands of Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides.
In April’s test flight, the service used a UAV to deliver mail to Unst, Britain's most northerly inhabited island, from Tingwall Airport on Shetland's largest island — a 50-mile flight each way. The twin-engine drone used in the tests can carry a payload of up to 100kg of mail.
Sony’s done it again with its over-ear flagship headphones. The fifth iteration of the WH-1000XM headphones is even more comfortable, sounds even better and will frustrate anyone who just grabbed its predecessor. They are a little more expensive, however. Check out the full review.
There are changes happening at the top of Twitter. CEO Parag Agrawal has fired the company’s General Manager of Consumer Products Kayvon Beykpour to "take the team in a different direction." Beykpour, who’d been with the company for seven years, was on paternity leave at the time. Bruce Falck, the company’s general manager for revenue, is also leaving, the company confirmed.
The shakeup comes alongside a companywide pause on hiring as Twitter tries to cut costs.
A live-action Resident Evil series is coming to Netflix this summer, and the service has shared a teaser. The story takes place across two timelines and locations: a seemingly pristine New Raccoon City in the present day and a ruined version of London in 2036. You may recognize Albert Wesker from the myriad of games, movies and other spin-off media.
Project Cambria can bring a virtual workout instructor into a physical space.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave us a first proper look at the company's next mixed-reality headset, codenamed Project Cambria, in action. You can watch Zuckerberg playing with and petting a virtual creature superimposed in the real world. The clip also shows a user in front of a virtual workstation before looking down at a notepad and writing on it. Mmm, working in a VR headset.
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference will still mostly be virtual this year, but it’ll have a limited in-person event at Apple Park. The tech giant has started sending invites for the one-day special on June 6th, where attendees will be able to watch the keynote and other videos on-site.
Apple is expected to showcase iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16 and the next version of macOS during the conference. The company might also talk about its upcoming M2 chips for Macs and iPads.
Lots of big announcements from Google's annual developer conference yesterday. It was a mix of intriguing new products coming soon (and some a little later), further AI advances and some more refinements to the myriad services and apps that permeate so many of our lives.
I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, and desperately tried to corral some of the other notable headlines, but, whoa, Google had a lot to get off its chest, hardware-wise: Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel Buds Pro and even a Pixel Tab.
To start with, yes, the Pixel Watch is real and arriving this fall. It features a nearly bezel-less watch face flanked by a “tactile crown.” It runs Wear OS 3 and includes deep integration with Fitbit software for its health and fitness-tracking features. As Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low put it: “It looks a lot like a bezel-less Samsung Galaxy Watch.”
It seems like a major upgrade for the midrange line.
The Pixel 6a is powered by Google's first Tenso AI chip, just like the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro before it. It’ll cost much less — just $449 — when it hits shelves on July 28th. It has the same unique two-tone case (and unique camera framing) as the Pixel 6, something that helps it to stand out from other midrange black slabs.
Google also shrunk the screen to 6.1 inches from the 5a’s 6.34-inch display. Along with smaller enclosure materials, that means it's roughly the size of the Pixel 5. Rejoice for not-huge phones. The biggest sacrifice at this price may be the camera: The 6a has a 12-megapixel sensor compared to the Pixel 6’s 50-megapixel primary camera.
Google teased a preview of the Pixel 7 – 6a, schmix-a. Sadly, there were no concrete specs on cameras or components, but we did get a glimpse of Pixel 7's design, which is retaining the prominent camera bar that debuted on the Pixel 6. For 2022, one improvement for the Pixel 7 is a new frame made of recycled aluminum.
Timing, Sony! Its newest flagship phone features a bunch of innovative, image-oriented features, including what it calls the "world's first true optical 85-125mm zoom lens," along with true 4K at 120 fps, livestreaming and even external monitor capabilities. The key feature may be the new telephoto zoom with an 85-125mm equivalent zoom range, enough for sports, wildlife and more. To build it, Sony appears to have used a 90-degree periscope-style system.
Google’s $199 Pixel Buds Pro are coming much sooner than the rest of its new hardware. They’ll arrive July 28th, with pre-orders opening on July 21st. Key features include support for multipoint connectivity, IPX4-certified waterproofing and active noise cancellation. The most intriguing feature to me is Google’s new tool called Silent Seal. The company says the Pixel Buds Pro will adapt to your ears to maximize the effectiveness of the ANC, and the earbuds also monitor pressure inside your ear canal, relieving it as needed to keep you comfy. I’ve found the Pixel Buds to be not exactly comfortable in the past — let’s see how the Pro version fares.
The company offered a sneak peek of a future wearable.
A decade after Google Glass made its debut at I/O 2012, Google is working on a new set of augmented reality glasses. The company teased the device at I/O 2022, sharing a short clip that showed off some of its capabilities. We saw an "early prototype" of the wearable transcribe a conversation in real-time and, in another demo, translate live from Spanish to English.
Sonos’ home theater speakers are usually premium products, with the $449 Beam being the cheapest soundbar the company made. Now, the company is introducing the Ray, its most compact and inexpensive soundbar, which arrives June 7th. At $279, it’s not competing on price with bargain options like Roku’s $130 Streambar. But in an advance demo, the Ray seems to be a powerful soundbar that will be a massive upgrade over just about any TV’s built-in speakers.
An appeals court judge said social networks are not websites but 'internet providers.'
The Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals has paused the temporary injunction on controversial law HB 20, which another court blocked from taking effect last year. Under the law, users will be able to sue large social media platforms with more than 50 million active monthly users, such as Facebook and Twitter, if they believe they were banned for their political views. HB 20 also prohibits social networks from removing or restricting content based on "the viewpoint of the user or another person."
It's the end of an era. Apple introduced the first iPod back in October 2001, when the company was highly dependent on its Mac computer sales and still on shaky financial ground. While the Mac requirement limited interest at the start, sales exploded after Windows users joined the fray — back when you needed to tether your iPod to your PC to sync music and, later, podcasts.
Now, in 2022, the company is finally discontinuing the iPod touch, which will only be available in stores "while supplies last." It’s the final death knell for the iconic gadget: Apple dropped the iPod classic in 2014, and both the iPod nano and iPod shuffle were discontinued in 2017.
The iPhone, ironically, was what killed the iPod, combining MP3 (not to mention video) playback with cellular networks, WiFi, apps, cameras and everything else.
Starting in 2023, the soccer series will be ‘EA Sports FC’
Don’t panic. The beautiful game will go on. Electronic Arts is calling it quits with FIFA after nearly 30 years of using the soccer governing body's name in the titles of its games. Starting in 2023, it’s renaming the series EA Sports FC. Which is rather (well, very) janky.
Other than the rebranding, the EA Sports FC games may not be vastly different. EA still holds licenses for more than 300 soccer partners and has exclusive agreements with the likes of the Premier League, MLS, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A.
The DJI Mini 3 Pro is a small, lightweight drone loaded with features found on bigger models, like the Mavic 3. It has some of the best image quality specs on a lightweight drone, including 4K 60p, 1080 120p and 48-megapixel photos, as well as advanced features like ActiveTrack, QuickShots and more. The Mini 3 Pro is a bit expensive at $910 with the new RC remote, though, and image quality might not be good enough for some pros. Check out our gorgeous review video from Steve Dent. And consider whether you’d like a new toy. I am.
Android 13, the Pixel 6a and Pixel Watch could all take the spotlight.
Google's I/O developer conference is finally returning as an in-person keynote for 2022, but that's not the biggest story likely to emerge from the event. This year, in addition to the customary Android update (we’re up to 13, now), it’s probably going to include the debut of the first Pixel smartwatch, and possibly at least one new Pixel phone and more. We break down everything we're expecting to see later today.
The Xbox Adaptive Controller was Microsoft’s first real attempt at making accessible hardware. And while it was very well received, it didn’t really impact non-gamers. Today, the company is launching an Adaptive Mouse kit.
The mouse core is a tiny square, approximately two inches (50mm) wide, and about as thick as a finger. This packs in the usual mousey parts: scroll wheel, left and right buttons, optical sensor and triggers for Bluetooth. The intriguing part comes from the Button, which you can program to perform any task you want. The Button can even handle sequential tasks, so you can have the first push open an app, have the second tap of the same button enter a phrase and a third send an email, for example. We’ve taken a deep dive and even toured Microsoft’s inclusive tech lab.
In an interview with The Financial Times, Elon Musk said he would reinstate Trump when his deal to acquire Twitter closes. “I guess the answer is that I would reverse the permaban,” Musk said in response to a question about whether he would allow the former president back on the platform. “Obviously, I don't own Twitter yet. So this is not a thing that will definitely happen because what if I don't own Twitter.”
Yesterday, as Russia celebrated Victory Day, marking its role in defeating Nazi Germany, many of the country’s online platforms were defaced in protest of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
According to reports, Russians with smart TVs saw channel listings replaced with a message implicating them in the ongoing conflict. “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands,” the message read. “TV and authorities are lying. No to war.”
According to The Washington Post, the hack apparently targeted several of the country’s largest internet companies, including Yandex and Rutube, Russia’s alternative to YouTube.
Russia passed a law this year that bans any efforts to discredit the country’s military, but that hasn’t stopped some media outlets from protesting the war. Articles on Lenta.ru noted they had “not been agreed with the editorial leadership” and that “the Presidential Administration will punish the publication for publishing this.”
Sony announced it sold just two million PlayStation 5 units last quarter (Q4), bringing its overall total to 19.3 million. That's down considerably on the same quarter last year when it sold 3.3 million units. Game sales went up, though, with 70.5 million PS4/PS5 titles sold compared to 61.4 million a year ago.
While Sony contends with supply constraints, it’s expecting better days ahead. It forecast a 34 percent increase in sales next quarter to 929 billion yen ($7.13 billion) due to better parts supply and higher sales of third-party games. Sony is also launching PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium, its take on Xbox Game pass, in June. While PS Plus subscriber levels were flat, the new tiers could help draw more subscribers — and some might pay more than they do right now.
Kendrick Lamar’s new music video for The Heart Part 5 revolves exclusively around deepfake celebrity faces superimposed on Kendrick's body as he raps across topics including mental illness, murder and more.
Lincoln College was unable to access recruitment and fundraising systems for months.
Lincoln College says it will close this week in the wake of a ransomware attack that took months to resolve. While the impact of COVID-19 severely impacted recruitment and fundraising, the cyberattack seems to have been the tipping point for the Illinois institution.
Lincoln says it had "record-breaking student enrollment" in fall 2019. However, the pandemic caused a sizable fall in numbers. The college — one of only a few rural schools to qualify as a predominantly Black institution under the Department of Education — said it affected its financial standing. Barring a last-minute respite, the combination of the pandemic and cyberattack may have brought an end to the 157-year-old institution.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says they're on the way to Facebook as well.
As promised (or threatened), NFTs are coming to Instagram. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the app will this week start testing a way for users to display non-fungible tokens on their profiles.
"We're starting building for NFTs, not just in our metaverse and Reality Labs work but also across our family of apps." Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook. "We're starting to test digital collectibles on Instagram so that creators and collectors can display their NFTs."
A similar feature is coming to Facebook in the near future, and Meta is considering enabling NFTs in its other apps, such as Messenger and WhatsApp. Also in the works is a way for people to display 3D NFTs in Instagram Stories using augmented reality.
