One of the stars of the working-out-from-home boom is struggling. Peloton won’t go quietly though and is making some big changes. The company will replace the CEO and co-founder, John Foley, who will become executive chairman, with former Spotify COO Barry McCarthy reportedly set to step into his shoes. While Foley is sticking around, the company is cutting around 2,800 corporate positions — these won’t include Peloton’s instructors who lead its live classes. The company said in a press release about the lay-offs that its “monthly membership will be complimentary for impacted team members for an additional 12 months." I'm not sure how they feel about that.

This all means we're back to speculating whether Peloton might be bought and folded into a bigger entity. Reports have suggested that Amazon and Nike are both looking into the possibilities, while pundits and analysts have long suspected Apple might pick it up as part of its fitness push. It could be a cheap purchase: Peloton reached a market value of $50 billion in January 2021, but it’s currently circling a $8 billion valuation.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Spotify's problems are bigger than Joe Rogan

• NASA picks Lockheed Martin to build a rocket that will return from Mars

• What to expect from Samsung's Unpacked event

• Amazon more than doubles base pay for corporate and tech employees

• Lemondrop and Fireball review: Impossibly small, surprisingly powerful synths

• NVIDIA officially abandons its plans to purchase ARM

Samsung leak reveals some very big Galaxy S8 Tabs

Expect to see an Ultra model with a large 14.6-inch OLED screen.

Engadget

Just ahead of Samsung's Unpacked event set for tomorrow, Evan Blass revealed a press release for Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 lineup in his Substack newsletter. It confirms many key specs from earlier leaks, including the existence of an "Ultra model" — likely to be the most intriguing of the often straightforward, sometimes bland, tablet series. All the finer details will come later today: join us as we livestream everything Samsung reveals at Unpacked later today. It all kicks off at 10 AM ET (7 AM PT).

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Apple scores its first Oscar nomination for Best Picture

Netflix leads the streaming pack with 27 nods.

Apple

Apple’s TV+ films received six Oscar nods overall, up from two last year. Most significantly, Apple has broken through in the Best Picture category. CODA is the first Apple Original movie to receive a nomination for the top prize. Elsewhere, Netflix continued to push hard for plaudits, with a whopping 27 nominations across the board. Climate change satire Don’t Look Up, packed with Oscar winners like Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Western The Power of the Dog both have nominations for Best Picture.

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Samsung is adding a load of new health features to the Galaxy Watch 4

Because it’s not got a busy enough week.

Today, Samsung is rolling out an update that enhances some of the Galaxy Watch 4's and Watch 4 Classic's health and wellness features. While the watches have long been able to perform body composition scans, the update adds insights about those results powered by Chris Hemsworth's fitness app, Centr. This includes a 30-day free trial to the app, which typically only lasts for seven days — and is pretty pricey after that. Other features include interval training for runners, sleep coaching and a load of new watch face colors and digital watch faces.

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What we bought: A lid that makes the Instant Pot good at slow cooking

The tempered glass and steam hole make a huge difference.

The Instant Pot does a lot of things well, but there are a few upgrades if you’re looking to maximize what the giant kitchen gadget is capable of. For a lot less than the air fryer companion, you can improve the Instant Pot’s slow-cooking potential with a very simple tweak: a fitted glass lid. Editor in Chief Dana Wollman dives a little deeper into the world of Instant Pot recipes.

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Tinder will stop charging older users more for premium features

A new report details just how drastically Tinder+ prices can fluctuate.

Tinder says it"ill no longer charge older users more to use Tinder+, following a new report questioning the dating app’s practice of charging older users “substantially more.”

Tinder+ pricing can vary a lot based on users’ age. The report relied on “mystery shoppers” in six countries — the United States, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea, India and Brazil — who signed up for Tinder+. According to the report, Tinder users between the ages of 30 and 49 were charged an average of 65.3 percent more than their younger counterparts in every country except Brazil. Tinder says it plans to abandon its age-based pricing altogether, having already halted it in the US, Australia and UK. (After a class-action lawsuit in California.)

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Apple's Tap to Pay lets iPhones accept contactless payments

Shops won't need dongles or terminals to take your money.

Apple has revealed Tap to Pay on iPhone, an upcoming feature that will let businesses accept payments just by bumping handsets (and the Apple Watch) — no extra hardware needed. The tech requires an iPhone XS or later and will also work with other digital wallets beyond the company’s own Apple Pay. Likewise, it’ll be compatible with contact-free credit and debit cards. Stripe is already planning to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to business customers. 

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I love it when fashion houses and technology collide. It’s often a complete disaster. I’ve played, reviewed and stared incredulously at a few of them, but, oh boy, Louis Vuitton loves to test the limits.

Its new Tambour smartwatch has a lot of what you’d expect: a $3,500 price tag for the most well-heeled smartwatch shoppers, LV livery everywhere, leather strap options and a divisive design that seems intentionally not for everyone.

Engadget

However, the watch, running on its own OS, is surprisingly competent. There are different power-saving modes, you can send notifications to your iOS or Android phone, with apps for weather and calendar functions all built-in. There are even Louis Vuitton travel guides, which are accessible for any trips you register on the watch.

It’s not for everyone, sure, but for the ‘someone’ that wants a glowing LV-emblazoned wrist, according to Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low, it’s functional as well as fashion.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Engadget Deals: Apple's Mac Mini M1 returns to a record low of $570

• Amazon's 3-for-2 sale includes ‘Pokémon Legends: Arceus,’ ‘Animal Crossing’ and more

• Spotify CEO apologizes to staff but won't back down over Joe Rogan stance

• Google hit with $2.4 billion lawsuit in Europe for favoring its own shopping service

Android 12L hands-on

Big-sized Android for huge screens.

Engadget

Google might be on the 12th generation of its mobile OS, but it felt like Android left tablets behind years ago. (Google gave up making its own tablets.) But with Android 12L, Google is trying to address some of the OS’ shortcomings while paving the way for emerging types of gadgets, like foldables. The major upgrades focus on a new taskbar and multitask interface, which makes sense. Sam Rutherford tests it out.

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Tobii says it's in talks to provide eye tracking for Sony's PlayStation VR2

The VR headset might not be close to launch.

Tobii says it's in talks to provide its eye-tracking technology for the next-gen VR headset. It noted the discussions were "ongoing" and that it couldn't share the potential financial impact of the deal. Sony previously confirmed the PlayStation VR2 would use eye tracking, but it didn't name a tech supplier or explain in detail how the feature would work. It suggests the VR hardware might be a ways off.

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Watch Hulu's intense 'The Dropout' trailer based on the rise of Elizabeth Holmes

Amanda Seyfried stars as the Theranos founder.

Hulu

Hulu has dropped the first trailer for The Dropout, a miniseries about the failed blood-testing startup Theranos. The best part of the two-and-a-half-minute preview might be Holmes developing her (iconic? infamous?) deep voice.

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IRS says it will back away from facial recognition amid outcry

The decision comes hours after mounting political pressure.

The Internal Revenue Service has told Senator Ron Wyden it plans to back away from using facial recognition for verification purposes. Wyden said the transition would "take time.” Under the plan, the IRS would have used ID.me’s technology to authenticate users hoping to file taxes online or otherwise use the IRS' internet services.

The approach was intended as a fraud prevention tool, but it encountered opposition from Republican senators, House Democrats and civil liberties groups. Worries included security concerns, the degree of privacy of uploading sensitive data, historical biases in facial recognition, the inaccessibility to people without broadband and a general lack of accountability.

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Later this week, Samsung’s big smartphone showcase will likely reveal the next iteration of its flagship Galaxy S line, almost definitely called the Galaxy S22. Shocking, I know. Judging from the leaks and rumors, what’s notable is this could mark the year Samsung’s Galaxy Note and S phone lines become one big happy family. Ahead of the event announcement, company president TM Roh teased it would feature “the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created.” See what they did there?

Evan Blass

Samsung skipped the Note line in 2021, but in all but name, the Galaxy S22 Ultra will be the Note 20 successor fans have been waiting to see for nearly two years.

We’ve pulled together everything we’re expecting to see right here, but we’ll also be covering the event on Wednesday, February 9th at 10 AM ET (7 AM PT). We’ll have our own livestream covering all the phones and any surprises along the way. Come watch along with us!

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• US carriers ask the FCC for $5.6 billion to replace Huawei and ZTE equipment

• Hitting the Books: 'Miracle Rice' fed China's revolution but endangered its crop diversity

• Google made a more accessible icon for Chrome

• Traders are selling themselves their own NFTs to drive up price

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy devices will be made partly of recycled fishing nets

Spoiler alert.

When Samsung does unfurl its 2022 Galaxy S lineup, those phones will be partly made of a new, more sustainable plastic. The company says it has started using discarded fishing nets to create a more environmentally friendly plastic. It’ll first be put to use in these latest devices, but Samsung says it’ll also begin incorporating the material in its entire device lineup.

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Apple’s new entry-level MacBook Pro may not include a ProMotion display

The company will reportedly release four M2-powered Macs in 2022.

When Apple refreshed its MacBook Pro line last fall, it left the entry-level model alone. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that’s about to change. He expects a new entry-level model will also drop the much-maligned Touch Bar, but it’s unlikely to include the ProMotion display technology found on the 2021 MacBook Pro, meaning it won’t support a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz for smoother scrolling. Mini-LED backlighting is apparently off the table as well, so don’t expect the base model’s display to get as bright as the screens on its counterparts.

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Spotify deletes over 100 'Joe Rogan Experience' episodes

But the controversial episode with Dr. Robert Malone is still there.

Spotify has been removing episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience since Friday, and at writing, the service has pulled a total of 113. Around 70 episodes have recently disappeared from the platform. Those were apparently removed on February 4th, in addition to the 40 podcast episodes deleted some time ago. However, the newly deleted episodes don't seem to be connected with the COVID-19 controversy surrounding the show and the service right now.

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The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is $45 off right now

Amazon's best e-reader to date is on sale for the first time.

Engadget

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is possibly the best e-reader on the market right now, and if you've been considering picking one up, now seems like a good time. Amazon is putting the device on sale for the first time for $145, which is $45 less than the regular price of $190. Our only issue when we reviewed the Signature Edition was the price — problem solved.

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Apple will reportedly hold its next hardware event in early March

The company could release iOS 15.4 next month as well.

Engadget

Apple just can’t let its biggest phone rival have the spotlight for a week. Apple will host its next hardware event sometime on or around March 8th, according to Bloomberg. At the event, the company will reportedly announce the third-generation iPhone SE, a refresh of the 2020 iPad Air and a new Mac computer that will feature an Apple Silicon chip.

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Amazon Prime is increasing in price for the first time since 2018. The monthly fee is going up to $15 (previously $13), or $139 per year (previously $119). The higher rates kick in February 18th for new customers, but they won't take effect for existing customers until they renew March 25th or later. Amazon pinned the increase on the "continued expansion" of Prime perks, like free games through Twitch and pharmacy discounts, along with higher wages (whose wages?) and transportation costs.

On top of that, there are also the company’s big Prime Video projects: the upcoming Lord of the Rings series is expected to cost $465 million just for its first season.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• In the Joe Rogan debate, Spotify is acting like a spectator rather than a player

• Senate bill targeting Apple and Google in-app payments moves forward

• The new Moto G Stylus adds a 90Hz display, a big battery and not much else

• Canada will get its first universal quantum computer from IBM

• How to watch the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

• Netflix will release at least 70 movies in 2022

Rotterdam is dismantling a bridge so Jeff Bezos’ superyacht can pass through

But what about the Prime prices?

Getty

Bezos may no longer be the CEO, but the Amazon founder will profit from those price increases. And he has things to spend money on, such as his ostentatious Y721 superyacht. It’s so big that to get it through Rotterdam, the shipbuilder will have to temporarily dismantle part of a bridge. The city is catching some flak over the decision. Koningshaven Bridge, built in 1927, was declared a national monument after it was decommissioned in 1994. The city finished restoring it in 2017 and vowed to never dismantle the bridge again. But here we are.

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Snap is finally making money

Snapchat has more users than ever.

Nearly five years after going public, Snap is finally profitable. The company shared the milestone in its Q4 earnings release, where it reported $23 million in positive net income. Sure, it’s a tiny percentage of its $4.1 billion in quarterly revenue, but it’s an important step for the company that has at times struggled with user growth. Daily active users have now climbed to 319 million.

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EPA objects to US Postal Service plan to buy a new gas-powered delivery fleet

The Biden administration wants zero-emissions mail vehicles.

According to The Washington Post, the Environmental Protection Agency and White House Council on Environmental Quality have sent letters to the US Postal Service urging it to rethink a proposal to mostly buy gas-powered next-gen delivery trucks in a project worth up to $11.3 billion. It said the current strategy is a "lost opportunity" to more drastically reduce the carbon footprint of one of the world's largest government fleets.

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Canon EOS R3 review

Innovative eye-control focus and speed, for a price.

Engadget

The 24-megapixel, $6,000 EOS R3 is the mirrorless equivalent of Canon’s 1DX Mark III DSLR. It delivers incredible shooting speeds of up to 30 fps, with reliable autofocus that can handle face- and eye-tracking for people and animals. According to Steve Dent, who put the camera through its paces, image quality is the best we’ve seen on any Canon camera. The new eye control AF lets you focus on a subject just by looking at it — something that works well for some people, but not everyone. The R3 is also very strong with video, handling 6K RAW at 60 fps with no overheating issues. The only caveat is that price.

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Ford starts 2022 with its highest EV sales numbers to date

The company is now the number two EV retailer.

Beyond the incredible pre-order numbers for both the hybrid Maverick and the EV F-150 Lightning, Ford’s EV push is working. The company reports sales of its EVs in January "grew almost 4 times faster than the overall electrified segment" (13,169 units in total), making Ford the current number two retailer of electric vehicles in the country behind Tesla, and also making it the country’s top-selling automaker overall. The company sold 6,513 Mavericks in January alone.

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The Switch is now Nintendo's best-selling home console ever

It just surpassed the Wii with 103.54 million sales since it launched in 2017.

The Nintendo Switch: another success story. It’s now bested the Wii, making it the best-selling home console ever. Thanks to what it called a "good start" by the OLED Switch, it sold 10.67 million units in Q3 (October to December), far surpassing the 3.9 million PS5 units Sony sold. That takes total Switch sales to 103.54 million since it launched in 2017, taking it past the Wii's lifetime sales of 101.63 million. Having said that, Nintendo revised its yearly forecast down by a million units. It now believes it’ll sell 23 million units, down from the 24 million it forecast last quarter.

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While we’re all waiting for the Galaxy S22 to break cover, Samsung’s latest Fan Edition smartphone seems a little late to the party. The Galaxy S21 FE lands a full year after the original S21, with similar looks and specs — if a reduced price of entry. The camera isn’t quite as capable as the S21, but the FE has a bright 120Hz screen and decent battery life. You win some, you lose some.

Engadget

The big issue remains that Samsung is so close to revealing its next flagship. Even if you're a huge fan of these Fan Editions, a true fan would wait to see what the S22 has to offer. Check out our full review of the S21 FE right here.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Palmer Luckey's startup bought an underwater drone company

• A new competitor to AppleCare offers cheaper insurance for smartphones

• 'Ghostwire: Tokyo' will arrive on March 25th

• The best Valentine's Day gifts for gamers

• Nintendo Switch sales have surpassed the Wii

• Snapchat is hosting a virtual concert starring Jennifer Lopez

Mark Zuckerberg’s bet on the metaverse is off to an expensive start

Meta’s Reality labs division lost $10 billion in 2021.

The company formally known as Facebook lost just over $10 billion on its Reality Labs division in 2021, according to its Q4 earnings report. “This fully realized vision is still a ways off,” Zuckerberg said of Meta’s metaverse investments. It’s the first time the company has shared the financial performance of the AR and VR division central to its metaverse ambitions (Facebook acquired Oculus in 2014).

Combined with flat user growth and continued hits to its advertising business, the company’s Q4 results sent Meta's stock into a nosedive yesterday.

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SpaceX launches premium satellite internet ​​with speeds up to 500 Mbps

You’ll pay for the privilege, however.

SpaceX

SpaceX has revealed a new tier for its Starlink satellite internet service, with higher performance but costing $500 a month compared to $99 per month for the standard plan. You'll also pay $2,500 for the antenna and other hardware, compared to $499 for base plan. Starlink Premium will offer speeds between 150 and 500 Mbps with 20 to 40 milliseconds of latency, up from 50 to 250 Mbps with the same latency.

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Sony drops PlayStation 5 sales forecast again due to chip shortage

It's well behind where the PS4 was at the same stage.

Sony is still struggling to make enough PlayStation 5 consoles to keep up with demand. During its key holiday fiscal quarter, it shipped 3.9 million units for a total of 17.3 million since launch, the company said in its earnings report. That's considerably behind the 20.2 million units the PS4 had managed at the same point in its life cycle.

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Spotify CEO admits content policy should've been public before now

"While Joe has a massive audience, he also has to abide by those policies."

Engadget

Spotify reported its Q4 2021 earnings today, and while the numbers showed a strong close to last year, the issue at the front of everyone's mind is Joe Rogan. CEO Daniel Ek began his prepared remarks by broadly addressing the company's "few notable days." Ek explained Spotify is working to combat misinformation and that there's still work to be done.

During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, he was directly asked about The Joe Rogan Experience. "We're trying to balance creative expression with the safety of our users," Ek said. He also admitted that Spotify was late in publishing its content policy and took sole responsibility for not doing so sooner: "We should've done it earlier and that's on me.”

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The pandemic is bringing out the worst in Yelp reviewers

The site has shared new stats on 'review bombing.'

Yelp is sharing new stats on the backlash some businesses have faced due to pandemic safety measures, like mask requirements. The company says it took down more than 15,500 reviews for violating the company’s COVID-19 guidelines in 2021. That’s a 161 percent increase compared with the same period in 2020, when the company first implemented new policies regarding COVID-19 related content.

Yelp has had to navigate a big spike in “review bombing” due to pandemic-related restrictions. Nearly 25 percent of all “unusual activity alerts” — when a business’ page sees a sudden influx of reviews that "appear motivated by a recent news event rather than actual consumer experiences" — were related to the pandemic.

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Wordle, the once-a-day word game without ads, subscriptions or even a mobile app, has been purchased by The New York Times. If you haven’t played it, you have six chances to guess a five-letter word, with clues offered for correct letter guesses. In an interview with The Times earlier this month, creator Josh Wardle admitted the project was inspired in part by Spelling Bee, one of the paper's subscription games, which Wordle will likely appear alongside shortly.

The Times didn’t disclose the exact terms of the Wordle acquisition, though the press release says it paid "in the low seven figures." Play it while you can — or find a workaround like this, spotted by Vice.

—Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Tesla recalls Full Self Driving feature that lets cars roll through stop signs

• The FTC is set to review Microsoft's $68.7 billion Activision takeover

• 'Bloodborne' PC demake reimagines the game as a PS1 title

• Google's Pixel phones had their best quarter ever

• You can finally delete things from your Netflix "continue watching" queue

• GM's Cruise now offers public driverless taxi rides in San Francisco

• Engadget Deals: Bose's QuietComfort 45 ANC headphones return to an all-time low of $279

DICE delays 'Battlefield 2042' season one to fix 'Battlefield 2042'

The core game part.

Battlefield 2042 is rough. To address some of those shortcomings, DICE and EA have officially delayed the game's first season to early summer and will use the extra time to fix the core experience. The next BF2042 update will bring a revamped, easier-to-digest scoreboard, while better player profiles and long-awaited voice chat functionality are coming "as soon as possible."

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Google Messages begins displaying iMessage reactions as emoji

But only for beta users.

Google has started rolling out a feature for Messages that translates iMessaging Tapbacks as emoji, according to 9to5Google. The publication first discovered the experimental feature in a deep dive of the Google Messages beta app last year. It's unclear whether the feature will come out for the stable version that most of us use, but if you're using the beta app, you'll get the update that enables it soon enough.

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Peloton's $90 armband offers more comfortable heart rate tracking

It costs a little more though.

Peloton

Peloton is once again expanding its fitness equipment range with a new heart rate tracker. Its $90 Heart Rate Band straps to your arm, which could make it more comfortable and easier to use than a chest strap, which normally needs to be placed in a specific location and often needs moistened contacts to work properly. The Heart Rate Band works with Peloton's app and devices, including all Bike and Tread models as well as the Guide camera. The armband should work with other products that recognize common Bluetooth heart rate monitors, but there’s no ANT+ support — a standard in many gyms and fitness studios.

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Spotify's 'Science VS' podcast will only fact-check misinformation spread on Spotify

The creators said Spotify's support of Joe Rogan 'felt like a slap in the face.'

The host and editor of Science VS, a podcast owned by Spotify, are no longer making episodes of the show — save for those "intended to counteract misinformation being spread on Spotify." In a letter to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Wendy Zukerman and Blythe Terrell said their policy would remain in place until "Spotify implements stronger methods to stop the spread of misinformation on the platform."

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Meta is winding down its low-cost Wi-Fi program for developing countries

Express Wi-Fi launched five years ago and is available in 30 countries.

Meta is ending its Express Wi-Fi program designed to provide low-cost internet in developing countries through partnerships with local communities, mobile operators and businesses. Designed to be inexpensive, starting at around 15 cents for 100MB or $5 for 20GB, Facebook partnered with satellite companies, ISPs and others in places like India, South Africa and the Philippines. 

Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported glitches in Meta's free internet services were creating unwanted charges for users in Pakistan. Meta also reportedly favored its own content on its free-data Discover service to the detriment of other sites. Meta said it plans to focus on other projects around internet access.

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It’s another big game studio deal. Sony has announced plans to acquire Bungie, the studio behind the hit sci-fi MMO shooter Destiny, in a deal worth $3.6 billion. Bungie is positioning the acquisition as the start of a new era for the company — one focused on global multimedia entertainment, not just games. One notable point: Bungie will continue to develop for multiple platforms, not just PlayStation, according to a blog post by CEO Pete Parsons. It’s another sign of the video game industry consolidating. In case you forgot, last month Microsoft announced it was buying Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Engadget Deals: The best Super Bowl TV deals from Amazon, Best Buy and the rest

• Ford's E-Transit work van offers a cleaner, quieter way to do business

• Tesla is opening more of its European Superchargers to third-party EVs

• Engadget Deals: Apple's 2021 cellular iPad Mini falls to a new all-time low at Amazon

• 'It Takes Two' is being adapted for film or TV

Kia's EV6 is the new benchmark for affordable electric cars

Superior range to the ID.4 and a lower price than the Model Y.

Hyundai

The EV6 is the first Kia vehicle under the company’s new Plan S electrification strategy, leading the way for nearly a dozen new EV models by 2026. It’s not just packing a great range, a competitive price and Level 2 autonomous driving but also some augmented reality tricks. Senior Editor Andrew Tarantola takes a drive.

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Sony's first 2022 State of Play will be a 'Gran Turismo 7' showcase

The event streams tomorrow.

Gran Turismo 7, finally coming to the PS4 and PS5 on March 4th after significant delays, will be the focus of Sony's first State of Play in 2022. The event is set to stream at 5 PM ET this Wednesday (February 2nd) and will feature “just over 30 minutes of new [GT7] PS5 footage and gameplay details.”

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Grindr disappears from Apple's App Store in China

China's Personal Information Protection Law might be to blame.

Reuters

One of the biggest gay dating apps has disappeared from China’s Apple App Store. There was no immediate explanation for the departure, but it came just days after China's Cyberspace Administration launched a campaign to purge illegal online material, porn and rumors ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Grindr’s developers may have removed the app due to the potential for problems stemming from China's Personal Information Protection Law, which governs private data. It requires any cross-border data transfers to go through China's Cyberspace Administration.

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Meta's upgraded 3D avatars work across Facebook, Instagram and VR

Drawing all the company’s parts closer together.

Meta is rolling out updated 3D avatars to Facebook, Messenger and Instagram (via DMs and Stories). The new design lets you bring the same avatar across Meta's platforms, including VR — if you’re using a Quest 2 headset. If you want some degree of separation, you can still create different avatars for Facebook, Instagram and VR, so you can have a more realistic persona for VR meetings and a more fantastical one for your social media presence.

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This is why your Apple two-factor texts include strange tags

The move helps thwart phishing attacks.

If you've noticed Apple's two-factor authentication texts include much more text than you're used to, that’s on purpose. Apple has implemented a system that uses domain-bound codes for sign-ins. The extra tags, for example, "@apple.com #123456 %apple.com," are meant to improve the trustworthiness of auto-filling text codes. The technique theoretically discourages more sophisticated phishing attacks that try to intercept and redirect two-factor verification messages.

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Graphics cards are fetching prices normally reserved for limited-run sneakers — even what you might have paid for the rest of your PC. Beyond gamers and power users, cryptocurrency mining has meant unprecedented demand. Coupled with a global chip shortage and supply chain issues, GPU scalpers and resellers are having field days every time a new card appears.

Enter NVIDIA’s $250 RTX 3050. With 2,560 CUDA cores, a boost speed of 1,777 MHz and 8GB of GDDR6 RAM, it's the company's cheapest GPU yet with ray tracing. However, as Devindra Hardawar notes, it's unclear if the 3050 will actually sell for $250 once it hits stores. It’s meant to come in less than the existing RTX 3060, which launched at $329 but now goes for around $1,000 if you shop around online. Yeesh.

Devindra puts the card through its paces right here.

— Mat Smith

The biggest news stories you might have missed

• Disney+ will expand to 42 countries this summer

• Reddit tests NFT user profile pictures, just like Twitter

• Spotify will remove Neil Young music following Joe Rogan dispute

• Apple marks Black History Month with a Black Unity watch strap

• YouTube bans Fox News host Dan Bongino for evading suspension

• Kia's EV6 pricing will start at $42,115 when it goes on sale in the coming weeks

Amazon's 'pay-to-quit' program won't cover most US workers this year

It could be due to staff shortages caused by COVID-19.

According to The Information, Amazon has paused its “pay-to-quit” program for the majority of its workers for 2022, and it's unclear if it will be reinstated. The publication has obtained a copy of Amazon's message to its employees, which was then verified by a spokesperson from the company. Typically, Amazon pays its warehouse workers up to $5,000 to quit their jobs after peak seasons as a way to pare down its workforce in the slowdown that follows.

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Streamers can now get pedals to control their feed

Elgato strikes again.

Elgato has released a Stream Deck Pedal that provides three customizable foot pedals to steer your apps and other broadcasting tools hands-free. You can manage Twitch or YouTube, change cameras and start an OBS transition, all with your feet. The set sells for $115, meaning it’s probably not for beginners. But don’t let that stop you!

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You can shut up Google Assistant by saying ‘stop’

Shush.

You can now get Google Assistant to stop talking with just one word: "Stop." That's it — you don't even have to say "Hey, Google". The official Google Twitter account has announced the small but necessary quality-of-life improvement for the company's speakers and smart displays.

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The 'Legacy of Thieves Collection' is a no-brainer for Uncharted fans

For newbies, this collection is a good place to start.

Sony

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection arrives for the PS5 this Friday, almost five years after Naughty Dog last released a new game in the series. The $50 collection features a number of technical and visual enhancements, but the games themselves are identical to the PS4 versions. Visuals-wise, there are three modes, all of which improve over the original PS4 game. A fidelity setting keeps the frame rate at 30 fps but renders the games in full 4K resolution. Performance mode, on the other hand, runs the games at 60 fps with variable resolution. There’s also a Performance+ mode for people with 120Hz TVs — the games run at 120 fps, but locked at 1080p resolution.

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Android apps come to Windows 11 in 'preview' next month

The free upgrade period for Windows 11 is ending soon, however.

Microsoft's Panos Panay has teased the release of a Windows 11 public preview in February that will bring Android apps to the Microsoft Store. The company didn't say how many apps would be available in this test, but they'll be titles found in the Amazon Appstore.

The preview will also include taskbar upgrades that include call mute controls, simpler window sharing and weather. Microsoft has redesigned the Media Player and Notepad apps, too.

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Valve's Steam Deck goes on sale February 25th

Units will begin shipping February 28th.

Valve

After a two-month delay, Valve's Steam Deck will launch on February 25th. In a blog post, Valve said it would open orders to the first batch of reservation holders that day. They’ll have 72 hours to purchase the gaming handheld, and if they don't, Valve will release their spot to the next person in the reservation queue. Pricing for the Steam Deck starts at $399.

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Musician Neil Young has asked his management team and record label to remove his songs from Spotify. "I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe [it]," he said. "They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both." The content of the letter was confirmed by Young's manager, Frank Gironda, according to The Daily Beast. It’s probably not an empty threat; Young previously removed his music from Spotify due to low audio quality.

The Joe Rogan Experience picks up around 11 million listeners on average, and as you probably already know, some of his guests (and comments) have been controversial. Rogan hosted virologist Dr. Robert Malone, who made baseless claims about COVID-19, saying a "mass formation psychosis" led people to believe the vaccines were effective. This prompted a group of over 1,000 doctors, nurses, scientists and educators to send an open letter to Spotify demanding that it create a misinformation policy.

In an episode that followed, Rogan contended that a rare heart condition had been linked to vaccines when it was actually linked to those that had contracted COVID-19. (You can watch the awkwardness here.) Spotify CEO Daniel Ek previously said he doesn't believe the platform has editorial responsibility for podcasts. The company hasn’t yet responded to Young’s letter.

— Mat Smith

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Respawn is making three more Star Wars games

A follow up to ‘Jedi: Fallen Order’ is one of them.

Respawn

EA’s Respawn Entertainment is making three more Star Wars games. The studio — best known for Titanfall and Apex Legends — is working on a follow-up to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, though it’s not clear if the upcoming game is a direct sequel. There will also be a first-person shooter overseen by a former Star Wars Battlefront producer as well as a strategy game from a studio headed up by Greg Foertsch, who previously worked on the XCOM series. Some Star Wars for everyone.

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Samsung built a fingerprint security chip for payment cards, employee IDs and more

It combines a lot of security tech into one chip.

Samsung has announced the "industry's first" all-in-one fingerprint security chip (IC) for payment cards. It can read biometric information via a fingerprint sensor, store and authenticate data with a tamper-proof secure element (SE) and analyze it with a secure processor. While primarily designed for payment cards, it could also be used for "student or employee identification, membership or building access," the company said.

We might have enough payment options, thanks to our phones, but that’s not stopping Samsung. Last year, it announced it was collaborating with Mastercard on a biometric scanning payment card with a built-in fingerprint reader.

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Sony's new soundbar offers virtual surround for $300

There's also a large subwoofer and tight integration with Sony TVs.

Sony has unveiled the HT-S400 soundbar. It has a few tricks while keeping the price down to $300. While it's a 2.1-channel system, it offers virtual surround sound (S-Force Pro Front Surround, if you wanted to know) to provide more immersive audio for your movies and shows. It's also a fairly powerful system for the class, with a rather large 130W wireless subwoofer contributing to a total of 330W output. The soundbar is set to launch in April 2022.

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Report: NVIDIA is preparing to walk away from its ARM acquisition

ARM may be planning an IPO if the deal falls through.

According to a Bloomberg report, NVIDIA is struggling to gain regulatory approval for its $40 billion purchase of ARM and is privately preparing to abandon the deal. Meanwhile, current ARM owner SoftBank is reportedly planning to take ARM public as an alternative to the acquisition. A backlash began soon after the announcement.

The UK, where ARM is based, launched an antitrust investigation into the acquisition in January 2021 while, in the US, the FTC recently sued to block the purchase over concerns it would "stifle" competition in industries like data centers and car manufacturing.

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Google is testing a new replacement for third-party cookies

FLoC seems to have flopped.

With the demise of third-party cookies on the horizon, everyone is scrambling to come up with better ways to get ads in front of our eyes. Google announced FLoC (or Federated Learning of Cohorts) last year. That was then delayed, and the company’s Privacy Sandbox faced regulatory scrutiny. Today, the company announced it's testing out a new approach called Topics API, leaving FLoC by the wayside.

Simplified, Topics API uses the Chrome browser to determine your top five topics. It'll figure out what the topics are by comparing known websites (that you visit) against a list of about 350 topics drawn from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Google's own data. Then, when partner publishers need to know what topics you’re into, they can use Topics API to ping the browser for that data and serve you relevant ads.

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Panasonic’s relationship with Tesla has been a successful one. Last year, the Japanese electronics company was able to spin its $30 million stake in Tesla into $3.6 billion, but the team-up continues. A higher-capacity next-gen battery for Tesla vehicles could go into production next year, boosting EV ranges by over 15 percent.  

Although the battery is said to be twice as big as previous versions, it may have a fivefold increase in energy capacity. Panasonic is reportedly investing around 80 billion yen ($704 million) on new equipment to produce the 4680 cell — just a fraction of that windfall.

The new cell is also apparently cheaper to produce, meaning it could well affect the pricing on future Teslas — in a good way.

— Mat Smith

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Google’s next Chromecast with Google TV may be a budget model

It’ll have a remote but only stream at 1080p.

Google is reportedly developing a new Chromecast aimed at folks who haven't yet splurged on a 4K TV. According to Protocol, the low-end device will offer a maximum stream resolution of 1080p.

The device, which could be named Chromecast HD with Google TV, is said to be capable of decoding the AV1 video codec (something the 4K-capable Chromecast with Google TV doesn't support at the hardware level). Given the lower resolution output, the device will cost less than the $50 Chromecast with Google TV.

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Plaid must pay $58 million to users of Venmo, Robinhood and other apps

It reportedly collected "more financial data than was needed" from users.

Even if you've never heard of a company called Plaid, they may owe you part of a multimillion dollar lawsuit settlement. The company connects consumer bank accounts to services like Venmo, Robinhood, Coinbase and other apps and was accused of collecting excessive financial data from consumers. While denying any wrongdoing, it agreed to pay $58 million to all consumers with a linked bank account to any of its approximately 5,000 client apps.

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AT&T is rolling out multi-gig fiber internet to more than 70 cities

New plans will offer symmetrical 2Gbps or 5Gbps data speeds starting at $110 a month.

AT&T is now upgrading its fiber-based broadband service with two new plans that top out at 2Gbps and 5Gbps. The company says its new multi-gig fiber broadband will be available in more than 70 metro areas, including Dallas, LA and Atlanta. The new 2-gig plan is set to start at $110 per month plus tax (or $225 a month for a business fiber), while the faster 5-gig plan will cost $180 per month (or $395 a month for businesses).

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Google’s Pixel smartwatch could finally appear on May 26th

That’d line up with Google I/O.

Engadget

More Google rumors. There have been rumblings for years that Google has been making its own smartwatch. Talk last month suggested a Google-branded watch could arrive sometime in 2022, now the latest murmurs point to the end of May. The smartwatch is expected to have a circular face, like other Wear OS devices seen over the past few years. It will likely have a heart rate sensor and other features adopted from Fitbit, which Google bought last year. But nothing’s confirmed yet — not even that Pixel branding. We’ll share more when we hear more.

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Meta says its new AI supercomputer will be the world's fastest by mid-2022

It's using the AI Research SuperCluster to develop new experiences for the metaverse.

Meta has completed the first phase of a new AI supercomputer. The company believes the AI Research SuperCluster (RSC), once finished, will be the fastest AI supercomputer on the planet, capable of "performing at nearly 5 exaflops of mixed precision compute."

Er, what? Well, Meta says RSC will help researchers develop better AI models that can learn from trillions of examples. Among other things, the models will be able to build better augmented reality tools and "seamlessly analyze text, images and video together."

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