Despite a global pandemic and ongoing chip shortage, Tesla continues to make money hand over fist. The company reported on Wednesday that it had a net income of $1.62 billion — five times more than it did this time last year. What's more, Tesla's operating income grew some 54 percent over the past quarter to $2 billion.

Company executives pointed to record-setting sales of both the Model 3 and Model Y — a combined 232,102 units delivered during Q3 2021 — for the explosive earnings growth, though only 9,289 Models X and S were shipped during the same period, a nearly 40 percent drop from Q2 2021 rates.

On the technology front, Tesla continues its FSD City Streets beta rollout and plans to "continue to monitor fleet data closely to help facilitate a smooth rollout," per its quarterly update. 

The company also released a more streamlined iteration of its car companion app that "enables phone key for multiple vehicles simultaneously, allows commands to be sent to the vehicle immediately upon opening the app and integrates the purchase of upgrades, subscriptions and accessories." New features include Disney+ streaming, a scrolling arcade shooter dubbed Sky Force Reloaded, a "car wash mode," and various tweaks to improve the vehicle's cold weather performance. 

Looking ahead, the company expects to achieve a 50 percent average annual growth in vehicle deliveries "over a multi-year horizon" and eventually reach "industry-leading" operating margins.

Stay tuned! The Tesla Q3 investors call starts at 2:30 PT today, we'll have more details as the event progresses.

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We saw the 11-inch iPad Pro go on sale last week, and now Amazon has an even bigger discount on the 12.9-inch model. The 256GB WiFi version is $200 off right now, bringing it down to an all-time low of $999. That's also the same price as the 128GB model, so you're essentially getting double the storage at no extra cost.

This year's iPad Pros are all about the M1 chipset inside. The upgraded processor makes the tablets run just as smoothly as Apple's MacBook Air M1 — apps open nearly instantly, multitasking is seamless, and we were impressed by the tablet's ability to easily play laborious games and piece together 4K video. You're also getting the new Center Stage camera here, so you'll always be in the middle of the frame when you're on FaceTime calls.

The 12.9-inch model has the added perk of a Liquid Retina XDR display, which will make a difference when you're watching movies. You may not notice a big jump in quality when editing Google Docs or browsing the web, but the improved backlighting system helps make dark things darker and bright things even brighter in videos. Also, it's screen size makes it more similar to a device like the MacBook Air — with the proper accessories, it makes a powerful, flexible laptop replacement.

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Epic Games Publishing is throwing its full weight behind two more indie studios, and really, they couldn't be more different — which is precisely the point. Epic has signed Eyes Out, the brand-spanking-new studio founded by Spec Ops: The Line director Cory Davis and Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck, and also Spry Fox, a veteran, award-winning indie developer known for heartwarming games such as Cozy Grove, Alphabear and Road Not Taken. 

As a publisher, Epic offers to cover 100 percent of all development costs, and once a game comes out and breaks even in sales, the signed studio receives at least 50 percent of all profits. Epic doesn't exert creative control over its partnered games, and the developers retain the intellectual property rights to their work. Epic signed Remedy Entertainment, Playdead and genDESIGN in March 2020, and today's announcement marks the second batch of contracted studios.

"We’re open to publishing many types of games from the most talented developers, and the studios we’re partnering with are making some of the coolest, experimental and ambitious stuff out there," head of Epic Games Publishing Hector Sanchez told Engadget. "They have our full support – including Epic’s publishing and promotional services, resources, and experience – which means they can focus solely on making the best games possible."

Eyes Out is staffed with enormous creative energy, but it's unproven as a team. Davis, Finck and their collaborators are working on their debut title, a mysterious arthouse horror game with an emphasis on experimental audio and cosmic terror. The studio's teasers are filled with moody desert landscapes and unsettling layers of sound. In a chat with Engadget in September, Davis said he wants to "create mind-bending experiences that cause you to question reality."

The publisher relationship goes even deeper for Eyes Out, too — the studio received an Epic MegaGrant in 2019, which gave them the runway to build their first proof-of-concept. Epic further funded the studio's prototype, allowing them to expand their team in the process. And now, Eyes Out is officially part of Epic Games Publishing.

"From the very beginning, Robin and I knew that Eyes Out was going to require a unique publishing partner willing to empower our vision of the strange, ambitious worlds we would create together, and one capable of fueling it," Davis said about today's news. He continued, "Our collaboration with Epic continued to bear fruit. Working with Epic is really the first time I’ve felt entirely unleashed as a director, both technically and creatively. Together we’re aimed to create the thing that’s closest to my heart."

Spry Fox, meanwhile, is working on its most ambitious project to date, which it describes as a "non-violent multiplayer game designed to encourage friendship and reduce loneliness in the world." It'll come to multiple platforms, and support cross-play and cross-progression. The first bit of concept art from Spry Fox's new game depicts a pastel, Atlantis-esque world with a massive yellow whale floating across the sky.

"This is the first time in our history that we at Spry Fox have chosen to work with a publisher in this manner," studio co-founder and CEO David Edery said. "Up until now, we have only worked with publishers for much more limited regional publishing and porting arrangements. But we felt for a project as ambitious as this one, we needed more support than usual, and Epic seemed like the right company to provide that support."

Epic has positioned itself as the developer's publisher, with a goal of having "the most developer-friendly terms in the industry," emphasizing creative control and financial support for its studios. Epic also offers free access to Unreal Engine, a powerful game-development toolset, and it throws money at artists through programs like Epic MegaGrants, a $100 million fund for burgeoning creatives. The Epic Games Store went live in 2018 as a direct competitor to Steam, offering better financial terms for developers and challenging Valve to implement the same deal (spoiler: Valve didn't). 

More recently, Epic waged a very public legal battle against Apple, arguing the iPhone-maker enjoyed monopolistic control over the App Store and offered unfair terms to developers. In the end, the lawsuit played out like any other fight between multibillion-dollar corporations, resulting in little change and lots of press.

Throughout the lawsuit, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney attacked Apple for engaging in greedy, anti-consumer and anti-developer practices. This is kind of his thing — since founding Epic more than 30 years ago, Sweeney has been consistent in his mantra that game development should be accessible to as many people as possible. Even his first game, ZZT, included an editor so everyone who played it could build their own levels.

"It was in those early days that Epic's kind of core philosophy was set," Sweeney told Engadget in 2019. "We both build games ourselves and we share all the results of our work with the world to build their own games. We're the both a game developer and a service company that works with partners throughout the whole industry. Everything we're doing now is this much larger version of that."

Including, it seems, Epic Games Publishing.

DJI has revealed the Ronin 4D, a cinema camera system with a built-in 4-axis gimbal, 8K resolution and LiDAR rangefinder that promises "sharper, faster and more reliable focusing." With a price starting at $7,199, it's aimed at professionals, but shows DJI's technological prowess both with gimbals and camera technology. 

The "Zenmuse X9" camera is designed exclusively for the Ronin 4D and should give dedicated camera manufacturers pause. It's a full-frame interchangeable model that can use either DJI's DL or Leica M lenses (along with other mirrorless lenses via adapters) and comes with no less than nine built-in neutral-density (ND) filters for controlling exposure.

DJI

It's available either in a 6K model that can handle 6K at 60fps and 4K at 120fps, or an 8K 75 fps version. It can capture files in RAW, ProRes or H.264, allowing maximum flexibility in production. DJI claims 14 stops of dynamic range, and it should be good in low-light thanks to the dual-native 800/5000 ISO. 

The gimbal itself is one of the first to offer Z-axis stabilization, DJI said. The aim is to reduce vertical jarring when a camera operator walks or runs, a trick that usually requires considerable skill. Helping in that regard is the Ronin 4D's relatively small size and 4.67 kg (10.3 pounds) heft, excluding the lens and storage card. It uses data from downward time of flight (ToF) sensors, forward and downward dual-visual sensors, a built-in IMU and a barometer. It also comes with DJI's ActiveTrack Pro (similar to that found on its consumer gimbals and drones), which uses AI to power framing and tracking. 

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As for the LiDAR focusing system, it offers "43,200 ranging points reaching as far as 10 meters, locating subjects quickly and accurately, even in low-light environments," DJI said in a press release. It didn't mention any other autofocus technology used by the camera, though it "supports human face/body recognition and framing of any subject." It also noted that the system "measures the distance to the subject without relying on surface textures or hunting for edges," implying it doesn't employ contrast-detect AF. 

The system supports full autofocus, manual focus and "Automated Manual Focus" (AMF) that allows camera operators to "pull focus with extreme precision." The general idea with AMF is that the autofocus handles most AF chores, but allows the operate to intervene manually at any point. 

DJI

Other features including a long range (20,000 feet) video transmitter that outputs a 1080/60p feed to remote monitors, three storage methods (USB SSD, CFexpress Type-B and DJI's proprietary PROSSD 1TB), built-in microphones along with 3.5mm mic ports and XLR ports via an expansion plate, and a battery with up to 2.5 hours of shooting time. 

The Ronin 4D with a 6K camera costs $7,199, while the 8K model is $11,499. Both come with the gimbal, camera, LiDAR range finder, a monitor, hand grips, top handle, a carrying case and a battery. That's a lot, of course, but less than some cinema camera systems by themselves — and DJI's Ronin 2 cinema stabilizer runs $8,000-plus without any camera at all. 

Nearly four years after debuting on PlayStation 4, God of War is heading to PC. Sony will release its 2018 exclusive on Steam and the Epic Games Store on January 14th, the company announced on Wednesday. 

Provided you have the necessary hardware, the PC port will allow you to play God of War at an unlocked framerate and true 4K. Additionally, the port will support both DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers natively, as well as NVIDIA's DLSS and Reflex technologies. If you would rather play with a mouse and keyboard, the game will also allow you to fully customize your keybindings. 

In recent years, Sony has slowly started to bring its PlayStation exclusives to PC, with plans to port more titles down the line. God of War will join Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone among the list of games that have made the jump to Windows. The timing of the release should also help Sony build excitement for God of War Ragnarök, which is expected to come out sometime in 2022.

On Wednesday, Samsung held its last Unpacked presentation of the year. The company headlined the event with the announcement of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 Bespoke Edition, a version of its clamshell foldable you can customize in a variety of colors. Specifically, you can choose between two frame tones (black or silver) and five front and back panel hues (blue, yellow, pink, white or black), for a total of 49 possible combinations. Each Bespoke Edition Galaxy Z Flip 3 also comes with matching wallpaper and cover screen.

If you ever want to update the look of your phone, Samsung will offer an Upgrade Care service where you can send it in for a palette swap. That should come in handy if you ever feel like you went overboard on your first design attempt and made something completely garish. Outside of the additional customization options, the Bespoke Edition Galaxy Z Flip 3 is identical to the model Samsung released in August. So expect the company’s best foldable yet.

Samsung

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 Bespoke Edition is available to order today from Samsung’s website in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Korea and UK. It starts at $1,100 and comes with 12 months of Samsung Care+ protection. As each device is made to order, delivery times will vary.

Alongside the Bespoke Edition Galaxy Z Flip 3, Samsung announced a software update for the Galaxy Watch 4. Available to download today, it comes with four new watch faces, including one called Info Brick that you can customize to display the fitness and health stats you want to see most. If you’re a fan of the existing Animals watch face, it’s now possible to add up to four complications to the interface.

Samsung

As part of the My Photo+ watch face, you can now choose to use a GIF instead of a still image. In the same vein, Samsung has redone the animations that are part of the step challenge to make them more playful. There’s now a cute bear there to encourage you to walk your 10,000 steps.

The update also adds a new knock-knock gesture you can assign to launch your favorite app or feature. For instance, you can bind the gesture to create a new reminder or open a list of workouts. Lastly, you can tweak the sensitivity of the fall detection feature to trigger even if you fall after standing still. With the update, Watch 4 owners can also get a free 60-day subscription to Strava.

Samsung

Rounding out the event, Samsung announced two Maison Kitsuné special edition Galaxy Buds 2 and Galaxy Watch 4 models. Set to cost $250 and $400 when they go on sale later today, the devices come in a new “Moonrock Biege” color and feature the usual design flourishes that the fashion house is known for.

Samsung

The watch comes with two straps. One in the aforementioned Moonrock Beige color and the other in a tone called “Stardust Gray.” The leather case the earbuds come is made from that same color. If you buy one of the wearables, you’ll get access to a playlist curated by the Kitsuné Musique music label. Both devices will be available in limited quantities in select markets across the world.

Another LEGO Star Wars game is heading to Apple Arcade, and it's the first social, action-adventure title in the franchise. The upcoming game, entitled LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, will have you building and customizing your own in-game LEGO minifigure character. Once you're done designing your own blocky hero, you'll head to a new planet where you can team up with friends to battle enemies and solve puzzles. Along the way, you can unlock collectibles to solve a mystery and save your merry band of LEGO minifigures.

When you're not out on adventures — of if you really just want to hang out in a virtual world with friends — you can stay in the game's Social Hub or race Microfighters. LEGO Star Wars: Castaways is an Apple Arcade exclusive, just like LEGO Star Wars Battles. The latter is a real-time strategy game that will let you collect upgradable characters, troops and vehicles and then pit you against other players in one-on-one showdowns. In Star Wars Battles, you'll also have to build and defend your own LEGO towers, as well as attack your opponent's.

LEGO Star Wars: Castaways will be playable across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, so long as you have an Arcade subscription. You can now sign up to be notified when the game becomes available for download from the Mac Store and the iOS App Store, but the game won't be available to play until November 19th. 

Over the weekend, accessory maker Dbrand made headlines when it stopped selling its PlayStation 5 “Darkplates” following a cease-and-desist letter from Sony. At the time, the company promised it would have more to say about the subject, and now it has. On late Monday evening, the company took to Reddit to announce a second version of the faceplates it says Sony won't have a legal case against.

“By creating a brand new design, Darkplates 2.0 successfully closes the loop on this dispute and neutralizes any future infringement claims from Sony,” the company said. It also claims its plates will make your PS5 look “considerably less ugly.” You can be the judge of that last one.

In addition to a new design, the panels feature cutouts for the PS5’s 120mm intake fans. Citing data from Gamers Nexus, Dbrand claims its new plates will maximize your PS5’s thermal performance without the need to run it naked. Sony’s latest console doesn’t have overheating issues. That’s true of both the launch variant and the new revised model that comes with a smaller and lighter heatsink. That said, running components at lower temperatures generally extends their lifespan over pushing them to the limit. If you’re worried about dust making its way into your console, each set of Darkplates comes with a pair of mesh dust filters you can mount inside of the panels.

The new panels are available to pre-order starting today for an introductory price of $59.05 for the set. You can choose from three colors: matte black, retro gray and classic white. Alongside the faceplates, Dbrand is selling lightstrips you can use to tint your PS5’s side LEDs. They’re available in nine different colors, with a single one priced at $5.95. Dbrand will release the panels in waves, with the first, sold-out set shipping in November, and then the second and third waves following in December and January.

We wouldn’t necessarily count on plates making those dates. Dbrand says Sony will “probably” sue it again. It’s bullish on its prospects, but then again, it’s up against a much larger company.

Samsung's latest smartwatches are only a few months old but they've just received their first discount on Amazon. Both the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Watch 4 Classic are on sale for $220 and $300, respectively, as part of Samsung's multi-day sale event on Amazon. These are record-low prices for both smartwatches, making now a good time to pick one up if you have an Android user on your gift list this year.

Galaxy Watches have been, for quite some time, the best smartwatches to get if you're an Android user. The Galaxy Watch 4 series keeps this pattern going and they are the first devices to use the new Wear OS and One UI developed by Samsung and Google's new partnership. Tizen faithfuls will know their way around the UI — thankfully, the team decided to follow Samsung's lead in this case, adding only useful features into the mix like the ability to download Play Store apps directly to your wrist. You're also able to use gesture controls to do things like answer a call with a flick of your wrist.

The Galaxy Watch 4 models are also solid fitness trackers. Inside is a new three-in-one biometric sensor that's faster and gives more accurate readings than those in previous models. It also helps enable things like bioelectrical impedance analysis for body mass scans. The Galaxy Watch 4 can also take blood oxygen readings, track sleep, detect if you're snoring at night and track 95 different workouts. If you're already an active person or are looking to get more active, chances are you'll be able to monitor all of your favorite exercises and more with this wearable.

On top of all that, the Galaxy Watch 4 models look pretty nice, too. The Watch 4 Classic has a physical rotating bezel and a stainless steel case, but otherwise it's the same as the standard Watch 4. Their screens are crisp and bright, and they're generally comfortable to wear all day long. General performance is good as well, although battery life could be better at just about one day. If you have an Android user — or a Samsung fan — in your life, the Galaxy Watch 4 would make a good gift this holiday season.

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Raspberry Pi has launched a new product that would make it easier to build robots out of LEGO components. The Build HAT (or Hardware Attached on Top), as it is called, is an add-on device that plugs into the Pi's 40-pin GPIO header. It was specifically designed to make it easy to use Pi hardware to control up to four LEGO Technic motors and sensors from the the toy company's Education Spike kits. Those sets are meant as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) learning tool for young students. The HAT also works with motors and sensors from the Mindstorms Robot Inventor kit.

In addition to the Build HAT itself, the company has created a Python library that can help students build prototypes using a Raspberry Pi and LEGO components. Plus, Raspberry Pi designed a $15 power supply for the HAT that can also power the motors and sensors attached to it. The Build HAT will set buyers back $25 each, and it works with all 40-pin GPIO Raspberry Pi boards, including the Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi Zero. 

Those who want to make sure that their LEGO components will work with the HAT can also check out Raspberry Pi's handy list of compatible components. Finally, those who need a bit of help to get started can try follow one of Pi's project guides, which include a DIY game controller, a robot buggy that can be controlled via Bluetooth and a robotic face.