Toyota's e-Palette is back in service. As Roadshowreports, the automaker has resumed use of its self-driving shuttle at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo following a collision with a visually impaired athlete. Not surprisingly, both Toyota and the games' Organizing Committee have made changes in light of the crash — they've determined that both the autonomous vehicle and the circumstances around it were to blame.
The company noted there were only two guide people at the intersection where the collision occurred, making it difficult for them to watch all vehicles and pedestrians at the same time. There also wasn't a "sufficient" way of coordinating between guides and vehicle operators (such as the manual 'backups' for the e-Palette). It simply wasn't possible to ensure safety at this signal-free intersection without everyone working together, Toyota said.
The company has upgrade the e-Palette itself with louder approach warning sounds, more crew members and tweaks to manual acceleration and braking. Organizers, meanwhile, have increased the number of guides, created an alternative to traffic signals, and split those guides into groups devoted to pedestrians and vehicles. Toyota and the Committee vowed to refine the system on a "daily basis" through the rest of the Paralympics, which end on September 5th.
It's not clear if these changes will be enough. However, this does serve as a reminder that self-driving vehicle tech is still in its infancy — it could be a while before Toyota and other brands can completely trust onboard computing power to safely navigate streets.
One of Samsung's latest ultra-short throw projectors has been discounted by $1,000 as part of a larger sale on Amazon. The Premiere Projector with a 4.2.2 channel sound system is down to $5,498 — yes that's still quite expensive even for a projector, but it's a much better buy now than at it's normal $6,500 price. We've only seen it cheaper in June during Prime Day when it was an additional $300 off. If you feel comfortable sacrificing on sound, the same model with a 2.2 channel system has dropped to $2,998. Samsung's matching both prices, so you could buy direct from the company if you prefer.
The Premiere made it onto our list of favorite projectors in a premium category, and it's worth the price if you want one of the best big-screen experiences available. It includes separate red, green and blue lasers so it can cover the full Rec.2020 color range, which is something even most high-end TVs cannot boast. This is as close as you'll get to a true 4K projector too, and it supports HDR10+ and up to 2,800 lumens of brightness.
That 4.2.2 surround sound system completes the package, allowing you to get close to a theatrical experience in your living room or backyard. We also like its relatively attractive and compact design — it looks nice enough to keep out in your home and, being an ultra-short throw machine, you can place it close to a wall and still get a crisp image.
The Premiere also has most smart features you'd expect a projector to have today, including virtual assistant support and streaming apps. Running on Samsung's Tizen operating system for smart TVs, you can ask Alexa, the Google Assistant or Bixby to do things for you as well as stream from services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and others. So while it's not cheap by any means even when on sale, the Premiere is an investment gadget that will provide an excellent entertainment experience for a long time.
Polaroid is adding to its line-up of products that mix retro looks with modern smarts. The new Polaroid Now+ is an analog camera with Bluetooth connectivity and five physical lens filters. It's the first time the company has included the latter out of the box. You can clip the filters on to the camera's lens to saturate or deepen the contrast of your photos, or add new effects like starburst, red vignette, and orange, blue and yellow colors.
The new camera, which is out today for $150, is essentially an updated version of last year's Polaroid Now. This time, there's a new Blue Gray colorway (alongside white and black) that ditches the company's rainbow-colored strip for a more muted look. Polaroid also integrated the camera’s light sensor into the lens stage to accommodate the different filters. On top of the core autofocus, dynamic flash, and self-timer functions, the snapper now comes with a tripod mount.
What's more, Polaroid has made way for improvements on the software side. The Polaroid Originals app now boasts a new, streamlined design with new features including aperture priority and tripod mode, designed to offer more control over depth of field and long exposures. You can also swipe between light painting, double exposure and manual mode. The Polaroid Now+ camera is available online exclusively through Polaroid.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga won't arrive until next spring, but another game from the franchise is coming soon — and it's an Apple Arcade exclusive. Lego Star Wars Battles is a real-time strategy game that pits players against each other in one-on-one showdowns.
You'll amass a collection of upgradable characters, troops and vehicles from all eras of the Star Wars universe. You'll be able to pit porgs against Boba Fett, for instance. Don't expect to stick to one side of the Force — you'll have a deck of light side and dark side armies, with different play styles for each. You'll have a number of abilities at your disposal too, such as Darth Vader’s Force Slam and Luke Skywalker’s Force Push.
TT Games Brighton/Warner Bros. Games/Lucasfilm Games
Battlefields will feature Lego towers that you'll build, defend, attack and use to claim territory. The locations include some familiar environments, including Hoth, Naboo and Endor.
TT Games Brighton is developing Lego Star Wars Battles, while Warner Bros. Games is the publisher. It won't be the first Lego game to hit Apple Arcade, though. Lego Brawls and Lego Builder's Journey both landed on the service in 2019. The latter was ported to PC and Nintendo Switch in June.
Volkswagen has unveiled a new feature for its Car-Net connected vehicle service that lets you get 4G data from two major US telecoms. Called "Carrier of Choice," it offers the option of Verizon or T-Mobile, making it relatively easy to add your vehicle to an existing mobile plan.
Starting in September, VW owners in the US will be able to access the subscription plan options on VW's dedicated website or via its mobile app. From there, you can add an account to your existing mobile wireless provider (assuming it's Verizon or T-Mobile) and pair it with your existing Volkswagen Car-Net subscription. It will then appear as a new line-item on your existing bill. If you're not already with those carriers, you can get unlimited 4G data for $20 per month.
Car-Net offers connected car features like remote start, locking and unlocking the vehicle, maintenance, status, teen driver alerts (curfew, boundary, speed) and more. Those features can be accessed remotely from both iPhone and Android smartphones using VW's updated mobile app. It also offers a WiFi hotspot with "unlimited" 4G connectivity for up to four devices.
On top of those features, VW lets you access iHeart Radio and TIDAL media streaming apps with a paid subscription. It also offers the "Plus Nav" subscription with real-time traffice and route updates for $49 per year, a radio subscription with 30,000 global stations for $8 per year and a natural language speech option for $9 per year. Of course, VW models from 2019 and up come with CarPlay and Android Auto support, giving you many of those options for free. Car-Net comes standard on most 2020 model year and newer Volkswagen vehicles. .
The City of Chicago has filed two separate lawsuits against DoorDash and GrubHub. While the complaints point to alleged misconduct specific to each company, they broadly accuse DoorDash and GrubHub of employing a similar set of unfair business practices.
Specifically, the city claims that both DoorDash and GrubHub have consistently advertised delivery services from restaurants that never consented to a listing on their platforms. The city also alleges they employ "bait-and-switch" tactics by using deceptively small delivery fees to lure customers before hitting them with various other expenses at the end of a transaction. Finally, it says they both hide the fact many restaurants charge less for the items on their menu when you order directly from them.
DoorDash called the lawsuit "baseless" and a "waste" of taxpayer money. "DoorDash has stood with the City of Chicago throughout the pandemic, waiving fees for restaurants, providing $500,000 in direct grants, creating strong earning opportunities and delivering food and other necessities to communities in need," a spokesperson for the company told Engadget.
GrubHub echoed the sentiments of its competitor. "Every single allegation is categorically wrong, and we will aggressively defend our business practices," a GrubHub spokesperson said. "We look forward to responding in court and are confident we will prevail."
In taking the two companies to court, the city says it seeks to mandate greater transparency from DoorDash and GrubHub, as well as financial restitution for restaurants and consumers hurt by their alleged actions.
Separately, the DoorDash lawsuit alleges the company misled customers about how it was using tips to pay its delivery workers. If that sounds familiar, it's because DoorDash agreed to pay a $2.5 million settlement toward the end of 2020 to settle allegations related to that exact same issue.
For Chicago, this is the latest effort by the city to impose additional regulations on food delivery apps. In May 2020, it implemented a policy that saw both DoorDash and GrubHub required to include an itemized breakdown that lists how much restaurants pay when you order from them using an app.
Four days into the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Toyota removed its self-driving e-Palette vehicles from the event following a collision with a pedestrian. The automaker made the decision Friday, according to Reuters, a day after one of the pods hit a visually impaired athlete who was walking nearby.
According to a video statement from Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, reported in English by Reuters, the vehicle had stopped at a junction and was about to turn under manual control from an onboard operator when it hit the pedestrian at one or two kilometers-per-hour. The identity of the athlete has not been released to the public.
Toyota first announced its plans to deploy e-Palettes at the games in October 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the organizers of the Olympics to delay the 2020 games by a year. The plan was to issue a fleet of 20 vehicles, each of which could run at up to 12 miles an hour on a designated loop. Notably, the plan also called for a human safety attendant on board in case something went wrong.
Toyota also said at the time that the vehicles were adapted for the Paralympic Games, with an electric ramp on each vehicle and room for up to four wheelchairs. Additionally, Toyota adjusted some of the e-Palette's interior elements to accommodate color-blind passengers.
The injured person appears to not have been seriously hurt. After receiving medical attention, they reportedly walked back to their lodgings. The athlete is now expected to compete Saturday at 10:30am local time.
If you’ve been following the rise of foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Fold probably holds a special place in your heart. It was the first of its kind to make it to market, and despite a troubled debut and wobbly sophomore launch, the series is now on its third generation. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is all grown up and stronger than ever. It’s had time to learn from the mistakes of its youth, and Samsung has devoted a ton of research into fortifying the foldable’s screen, hinge and overall build. This year, it’s added support for the S Pen, as well as water resistance and more optimized software. The phone is also $200 cheaper, now starting at $1,800. But despite all its growth, the Fold 3 is still undergoing an identity crisis.
Design
Just by looking at it, you wouldn’t be able to see a difference between the Fold 3 and its predecessor. The two have basically the same dimensions, with this year’s model coming in a little thicker. But despite gaining 0.4mm when unfolded, the Fold 3 is actually 0.8mm thinner than the Fold 2 when closed. It appears Samsung might have been able to reduce the gap between the two halves of the screen when it refined its hinge mechanism.
That said, without a side-by-side comparison, you probably won’t notice this. You also might not realize that the Fold 3 is 10 grams (or 0.35 ounces) lighter than its older sibling, either. But it’s certainly heavier than most other smartphones. It’s about 45 grams (or 1.58 ounces) heavier than the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the S21 Ultra, and after prolonged use my arm started to feel the strain. Still, it’s basically two phones in one, which means the only device that might be fair to compare it to is the Surface Duo. Microsoft’s dual-screen phone is noticeably thinner and lighter than the Fold 3.
David Imel For Engadget
Because it didn’t have a flexible display, though, the Surface Duo presented less of an engineering challenge. Durability is a greater concern with foldables like the Fold and Flip 3. Samsung said it used stronger aluminum in the Fold’s frame, streamlined its hinge and redesigned the screen’s layers to make the device sturdier. It also applied a new stretchable PET protector on the panel. Altogether the company said the Fold 3’s screen is 80 percent more durable than its predecessor.
That’s not something I can gauge without intentionally trying to damage the Fold 3. But its screen does feel more glass-like than the original, and the protector completely covers the display so you won’t see its edges that tempt you to peel it off. Some reviewers noted bubbles appearing on their Fold 2 after a few months, and since it hasn’t been that long, I can’t say for sure if the new model will do the same.
For now, though, the Fold 3 has withstood being tossed around in a purse full of sharp and heavy objects and still looks pristine. It also survived some droplets of water after I set it down near the sink when I was washing my hands, thanks to its new IPX8 water-resistance.
David Imel for Engadget
When open, the Fold 3 is easy enough to hold with one hand, though I generally held it with both for easier typing. While I appreciate that the hinge is sturdy enough that you can leave the phone open at any angle, it makes unfolding the device kind of hard. The magnets that keep the device shut are very strong, so you’ll have to first pry them apart and then push deliberately to extend it all the way. In fact, I had a few close calls where I almost dropped the Fold 3 when struggling to open it.
Thankfully, I didn’t, because any scratches would be quite obvious on my all-black review unit. The Fold 3 also comes in silver, green and a Thom Browne version with red, white and blue stripes. You’ll have to spend $3,450 to get the latter in a limited-edition bundle, though.
A tale of two displays
Outside, the Fold 3 has a 6.2-inch 2,268 x 832 display, which now refreshes at 120Hz. It also uses a Dynamic AMOLED panel, which supports HDR10+ as opposed to last generation’s Super AMOLED. The faster screen makes scrolling my neverending inbox super smooth, and pictures on my Instagram feed look vibrant. Aside from these upgrades, the Fold 3’s external display is basically the same as its predecessor’s, which means it has a similarly narrow aspect ratio.
David Imel for Engadget
While that makes the closed device easier to navigate with one hand, it also means most content feels cramped. Buttons on the keyboard, for example, are smaller and harder to aim for, while lengthy messages and tweets take up more lines so you’ll see fewer on the page at once.
Thankfully, when you need more room, you can open up the Fold to use the 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED panel inside. Like the outside display, this has a 120Hz refresh rate, and it runs at 2,208 x 1,768. To give you a more immersive full-screen experience, Samsung used an under-display camera (UDC) here that can camouflage beneath pixels so you won’t have to see the little hole that most modern phones have for their selfie sensors.
I don’t know about you, but I never found those tiny circles to be very obstructive or much of an eyesore. Still, if you really hate seeing it, the good news is the UDC does disappear into the screen with the right background or app. The bad news is that you’ll still see it on darker wallpapers, and even when the screen above the camera is displaying something, it creates a noticeable ring of pixelation.
David Imel for Engadget
This didn’t bother me much, and after some time I even forgot the camera was there. Most people likely won’t mind the little distortion the UDC causes. Regardless, the rest of the screen is bright, colorful and crisp, making it a pleasant canvas for my videos and casual games.
S Pen and multitasking software
The Fold 3’s internal display isn’t just great for Netflixing. With S Pen support this year, the foldable screen is more useful for those who want to write notes or sketch diagrams on that expansive surface. You’ll have to pay an extra $50 for the S Pen Fold edition or $100 for the Pro model, which comes with a case. The Fold version doesn’t require charging and is pretty basic, while the Pro needs power for features like switching between other Samsung phones and Bluetooth controls. Either way, there isn’t a slot on the phone for the stylus, so you’ll have to put up with carrying around a loose accessory.
If you’re willing to splurge, the S Pen is a generally helpful tool on the Fold 3. I mostly used it as a cursor to make navigating the larger screen easier, but it’s also fluid and responsive when doodling on Samsung Notes. The company also offers an “S Pen to text” setting that lets you more easily edit text by marking dittos, arrows or strokes directly on words. Drawing a line through letters, for example, will erase them.
David Imel for Engadget
I’m not a fan of having to bring around any extra items to use a phone, but the S Pen did make it easier for me to write this review on the Fold 3 from the back of a cab. Trying to type on its larger screen with my fingers is a huge pain, and the stylus came in handy, making swipe typing more accurate. I also loved scribbling into search bars and messaging apps — Samsung’s system is surprisingly adept at recognizing my awful handwriting.
While I’m not sure it’s worth the extra $50, I can appreciate the work Samsung had to do to make S Pen support a reality. As I dragged the nib around the screen during a bumpy ride, I managed not to damage the flexible display with any accidental pokes and stabs.
Even without the S Pen, the larger internal panel still offers a variety of useful multitasking features. Like its predecessors, the Fold 3 lets you place two apps side by side so you can keep an eye on Slack while writing a review or monitor Twitter for PlayStation 5 release news as you read articles on Chrome.
David Imel for Engadget
This year, Samsung made it so you can pin the Edge panel to the screen so it acts like a desktop-style taskbar for easy access to your open and favorite apps. It’s a simple but tremendously useful update. Now, instead of having to swipe in to pull up the Edge panel and then drag an app out to open it in split-screen, the icons are already there. It does take up a column of space, though, which makes running two apps at once feel cramped. Thankfully, it's easy enough to hide with a tap.
It feels as if the floating panel has finally found its home on the Fold 3 since Samsung first launched it on the Galaxy Note Edge in 2014. What used to be a somewhat awkward, only slightly convenient feature is now an actually useful tool that makes the Fold 3 feel like a more capable multitasking device.
Another thing Samsung did to improve the Fold’s big-screen experience is add the option to make all apps expand to fullscreen. Through its experimental Labs settings, the company lets you choose whether individual apps launch in 16:9, 4:3 or fullscreen. In the past, for example, Instagram would refuse to expand completely, resulting in an unsightly setup with the phone-sized app in the middle and blank space on either side. Now, you get to decide how much of the display they should take up.
David Imel for Engadget
This only works partially, though. Yes, my feed does take up the whole screen, but watching and posting Stories still reverts to the phone-sized orientation. Also, a lot of pictures on Instagram look splotchy when the app is blown up. Samsung still has a ways to go, but I applaud the effort.
The company offers more features in Labs to improve the full-screen experience, including enabling Multi Window and Flex Mode panels for all apps. Like the aspect ratio tweak, these can be hit or miss. Flex Mode panel adds a mini dashboard to the bottom part of the screen when you half-open and set the Fold 3 up like a laptop. Some apps are optimized for this to offer useful, well-spaced controls in this space. But for the ones that aren’t, like Chrome, Samsung’s software slaps a tiny, inch-tall row of four buttons at the bottom for keyboard, screenshot, brightness and volume.
I could go on about the rest of Samsung’s software, like how the App Continuity feature doesn’t always keep content in the same place when you open the Fold up to see something on the bigger screen. But that would take forever. In general, it feels like Samsung is putting more and more effort into band-aid solutions when Google should really be working on optimizing Android for tablets.
A plethora of cameras (including one under a display)
Like a person trying to be too many things, the Fold 3 is an overachiever. And the fact that it has five cameras onboard almost feels excessive. There’s a 10-megapixel selfie camera, the UDC, which is just 4-megapixels sharp and a trio of 12-megapixel sensors on the rear, including regular, ultra wide and telephoto lenses.
Most of these cameras perform just as well as iPhone and Pixel flagships, delivering bright, colorful pictures in most situations. It did justice to rows of mouthwatering sushi, clearly rendering scallions and individual grains of rice.
My nighttime shots of the USS Intrepid on the Hudson River also came out sharp and bright, though Google still has the edge in low light. Pictures of trees and buildings taken with the Pixel 5’s Night Sight mode were clear enough that leaves were distinct, while the Fold 3’s photo of the same was muddy.
That’s a small gripe, though. The Fold 3’s rear cameras are otherwise comparable to their conventionally shaped counterparts. The selfie sensor also delivered pleasantly crisp, vibrant photos.
My main complaint about photo or video quality would be with the UDC — and it’s a small one. You can clearly tell when using this to take selfies or chat with friends that it’s a lower-quality option. Details are less sharp and colors aren’t as saturated. Still, I don’t expect much from a 4-megapixel camera, especially not one that’s under a screen. This feels more like a last resort if you really must take a call with the Fold open and is just serviceable.
Performance and battery life
Whether I was using the outside screen or the internal panel, the Fold 3 was mostly snappy. Its Snapdragon 888 processor with 12GB of RAM delivered smooth performance as I marked dozens of emails as read, wrote a review while watching a video and Slacking my colleagues. I occasionally had to wait for an app to re-open when I switched between the two displays, but for the most part everything flew.
I also never found myself worrying about the Fold 3 running out of juice. It generally stuck around for at least a day and a half, sometimes only conking out after two days. I ran our video rundown test on the Fold 3’s larger screen and it clocked 14 hours and 3 minutes. The Surface Duo only lasted 10 hours and 32 minutes in a similar setup.
David Imel for Engadget
Wrap-up
With the Fold 3, it feels like Samsung has tried extremely hard to make a foldable smartphone-tablet hybrid work. But while I found myself eagerly reaching for the Flip 3 when I was reviewing it, I struggled to find reasons to use the Fold 3. When it’s closed, it’s heavier and narrower than a regular phone. I only want to open it up for gaming and getting work done on my commute. For the times when I’m leaning back on my couch and want to idle away on Reddit or Twitter, the Fold 3 doesn’t satisfy. Maybe that’s a good thing, but I’m not here to debate the philosophical benefits of foldables.
I had a similar issue with the Surface Duo, which tried to be a tablet and a phone and failed at both. Though the Fold 3 is in most ways superior, it still won’t replace a regular smartphone. It’s a well-made, impressive piece of tech that has benefited from years of R&D, but it suffers from an identity crisis by attempting to be two things at once. Does that mean the world should give up on foldable phones altogether? Absolutely not. As components get smaller, the Fold could one day be thin and light enough with much improved software that might make it useful in all its modes. But for now, despite all the progress Samsung has made, the Fold 3 is still not ready for the mainstream.
Main display: 7.6-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Flex Display
Main display resolution: 2,208 x 1,768 (22.5:18)
External display: 6.2-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED
External display resolution: 2,268 x 832 (24.5:9)
Rear triple cameras: 12MP f/1.8 wide-angle camera with OIS and 83-degree FOV, 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera (123-degree FOV), 12MP f/2.4 telephoto camera with OIS and 45-degree FOV
Front camera: 10MP f/2.2 camera (80-degree FOV)
Inside (under-display) camera: 4MP f/1.8 camera (80-degree FOV)
Operating system: Android 11 with One UI
Battery: 4,400mAh
Charging: USB-C with fast wired charging at 25W (QC2.0 and AFC) and fast wireless charging at 10W (WPC and PMA). Reverse wireless charging at 4.5W (WPC Qi).
Dimensions: 128.1 x 158.2 x 6.4mm (unfolded); 67.1 x 158.2 x 16.0mm (Hinge) - 14.4mm (Sagging) (folded)
Nintendo surprise-announced Metroid Dread, the fifth mainline game in the series, at E3 this year. Part of the surprise was that it was arriving this year, October 8th to be precise. Now, with just over a month before it arrives, Nintendo has released a new trailer for Metroid Dread, which might be our last look at the game before launch. Of course, this trailer isn't as detailed as the 20 minutes of gameplay Nintendo showed off at E3, but it still shows off a lot of what to expect when Metroid Dread arrives on the Switch.
The video mixes more cinematic shots of Samus Aran battling some pretty huge and intimidating baddies with the 2D gameplay footage that originally defined the series before the first-person Metroid Prime games. The game looks immediately familiar to people who've been waiting for a new 2D Metroid game, but Samus Aran has more abilities to navigate the terrain and battle enemies than ever before. The trailer moves fast, but there's lots of aerial dashing, underwater action, multiple different arm cannon weapons, wall jumping and more.
Given that this is the first all-new, side-scrolling Metroid game since 2002's Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance (!), Dread has a lot to live up to. But at least from what we've seen so far, Nintendo may have pulled off the feat of bringing one of its oldest franchises into the modern era of gaming. We'll find out in just over a month.
Pokémon fans now have even more ways to enjoy the sprawling franchise's offerings on Nintendo Switch. The Pokémon TV app has, at long last, hit the console. It includes hundreds of episodes of the Pokémon anime series, including some full seasons, as well as animated specials.
Kids (and adults, if we're being honest) can also kick back and stream Pokémon Trading Card Game and video game competitions. They can pick up some training tips too. There's plenty for the youngest Pokémon fans as well. The Junior category includes sing-along songs, nursery rhymes and more. Content in the free app is refreshed periodically.
Though the Switch eShop has hundreds and hundreds of games, there are precious few media apps. You can fire up YouTube, Hulu and Funimation but Netflix and Prime Video are nowhere to be seen (unless you jailbreak your Switch). Another streaming app from a brand that's so entwined with Nintendo's DNA could keep people hooked on their Switch for even longer. Still, it feels like the Pokémon TV app should have been on the console long before now.
