When Cowboy, a premium European e-bike company, invited the media to an event in Paris, France, it faced some unexpected challenges. Along with torrential rain, there also were strikes and protests against changes to the country’s pension system. And then the big reveal was… not a new bike. Instead, the announcement was three springtime color options for the Cowboy 4 and 4ST (step-through) plus Adaptive Power, a software upgrade coming to Cowboy 4 bikes this month. So when I met the company’s execs, I already had my question: Where’s the new model?

But before I sat down to speak with them, I was able to try out Adaptive Power, touring a few blocks and dipping down and out of Parisian car parks. Would this smarter e-bike (with the same motor) translate to any tangible improvements? Fortunately, yes. Adaptive power works by tapping into the e-bike’s accelerometer and other sensors, based on the rider’s weight, momentum and other factors – even wind. The new feature adjusts the motor’s power without the need for gears or tapping a boost button. The sensors also seemingly detect inclines as soon as your front wheel hits them, increasing motor assistance. The update taps into the same sensors and tech already used for crash detection.

Mat Smith / Engadget

According to Cowboy, the e-bike should offer equivalent battery life between the two iterations, as the motors will likely work more than the last version when the bike needs more power, but also work less when it doesn’t. If you’re riding an updated Cowboy 4, you won’t be able to return to the previous system, but using the app, you can choose between adaptive and eco modes, with the latter offering reduced assistance.

I was able to compare the C4, both with and without the feature, and the biggest improvement from Adaptive Power was how it kicked in at the perfect moment while accelerating from stationary. That’s not to say the Cowboy 4, pre-Adaptive Power, was slow, but it felt smoother and more responsive – it’s impressive for a single-gear bike. Previously, the bike’s motor would respond to your pedal pushes. This time it takes in more information to decide whether to boost.

While that was the most convenient benefit, there’s also a tangible improvement when tackling hills and inclines. With Adaptive Power, steep hills demanded a bit of pedaling but were surmountable. Downgrading to a bike without Adaptive Power – but the same motor with 45 Nm of torque – it’s a journey on the struggle bus. This was a common complaint from Cowboy 4 riders, with several saying that hilly environments were difficult to tackle, even with electric support. This new feature seems to address that, judging by my brief ride on the updated Cowboy 4. (If Cowboy is looking for what to improve when it eventually gets to its fifth-generation bike, this city rider would appreciate a more comfortable saddle.)

This update plays to the Cowboy 4’s design, too. Unlike many e-bikes, there are no controls to tap directly into the electric motor. It’s meant to look (and ride) like a normal push bike and that’s what it does. The Cowboy 4 is also, still, a few kilograms lighter than VanMoof’s latest e-bike, its most comparable rival. Both are premium e-bike options with similar pricing and features, but if you’re lifting your bike up stairs, or into buildings, it’s worth considering.

While Adaptive Power has been in beta testing with users before now, the official launch coincides with three new color options of both the Cowboy 4 and 4ST. While it’s an impressive way to upgrade the e-bikes of existing users – and do it without having to take it to a service center– these are the same bikes that first launched in 2021.

Until now, Cowboy has iterated fast, with new models arriving at a similar cadence to flagship smartphones. We reviewed its first bike in 2019, which wasn’t long ago. But there are a few reasons for the company to stick with the Cowboy 4.

 A lot of e-bike tech will not change hugely in the next few years. Barring incremental efficiency updates, the motor inside most e-bikes likely won’t see generational updates. I also wonder how existing Cowboy e-bike owners see the company's updated models, having spent thousands on an e-bike 18 months earlier, only to see it replaced so soon. So why no Cowboy 5? For Cowboy, CEO and cofounder Adrien Roose told me the focus is on improving quality, efficiency and all the things that come with scaling up to sell more bikes. The C4 and C4 ST both remain priced at around $3,000, depending on region, and the challenge is getting e-bike prices low enough for wider-spread adoption.

Mat Smith / Engadget

The company has opened up flagship stores in Germany, Belgium and France – the countries Cowboy is intently focused on, and where it sells most of its bikes. So far it’s sold over 50,000 bikes, globally. But while the C4 is available in the US (and being a company called Cowboy), earnestly targeting the American market remains a future challenge. Roose told me they’re in “learning mode” regarding the US. The plan appears to focus on keeping the company healthy and profitable. Roose added that he believes that Cowboy should get to that point by next year. Maybe they’ll celebrate with a new bike?

Now is a good time to go shopping if you're pining for Apple's most affordable tablet. Amazon is once again selling the 10.2-inch iPad with WiFi and 64GB of storage for $250, or $79 off. The discount makes it easier to justify if you're looking for a no-frills model for reading, video chats or TV marathons.

The 10.2-inch model remains our pick for the best budget iPad for a good reason: even at its normal price, it still delivers a lot of value for the money. It's still quick for everyday tasks, and very portable. It's also particularly appealing if you prefer wired audio — it's the only remaining iPad with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It can be a better deal than the 10th-generation iPad if you're unwilling to pay for an updated design.

There are reasons you may want to pay more, of course. The 10.2-inch iPad isn't as fast as other models, and doesn't have a USB-C port, the largest screen, cutting-edge cameras or the Smart Connector for advanced keyboards. Consider the iPad Air (including refurbished units) if you want a tablet that can handle some serious productivity. For casual uses, however, there's no need to splurge.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Meta has announced another round of sweeping layoffs in a bid to cut costs. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company is letting go of another 10,000 workers or so and closing "around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired." 

Meta will reduce the size of its recruiting team imminently and inform affected employees on Wednesday. The company will then announce layoff and restructuring efforts of its tech departments in late April and business teams in late May. Zuckerberg said it might take until the end of 2023 to complete the process, but the timelines might be different for Meta's operations outside the US. After restructuring, Meta plans to lift the hiring freeze.

"This will be tough and there’s no way around that. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success," Zuckerberg wrote. "They’ve dedicated themselves to our mission and I’m personally grateful for all their efforts. We will support people in the same ways we have before and treat everyone with the gratitude they deserve."

In addition, the company will "announce restructuring plans focused on flattening our orgs" and canceling lower priority projects, Zuckerberg said. Reports have suggested that the layoffs will impact teams working on wearable devices as part of the Reality Labs hardware and metaverse division. The "flattening" involves removing layers of management, while Meta will "will ask many managers to become individual contributors" — in other words, it seems managers will have to take on some of the tasks their employees focus on.

"We still believe managing each person is very important, so in general we don’t want managers to have more than 10 direct reports. Today many of our managers have only a few direct reports," Zuckerberg wrote. "That made sense to optimize for ramping up new managers and maintaining buffer capacity when we were growing our organization faster, but now that we don’t expect to grow headcount as quickly, it makes more sense to fully utilize each manager’s capacity and defragment layers as much as possible."

In November, Meta laid off more than 11,000 people, which equated to around 13 percent of its headcount at the time. That marked the company's first mass layoffs. Four months later, Meta announced planscutting thousands more workers.

The latest cost-cutting drive was widely expected. The Financial Times, Bloomberg and The Verge have all reported in recent weeks that more layoffs were in the pipeline. Zuckerberg, who will soon go on paternity leave for his third child, recently described 2023 as a "year of efficiency" for the company and doubled down on that in his note to employees today.

"Since we reduced our workforce last year, one surprising result is that many things have gone faster. In retrospect, I underestimated the indirect costs of lower priority projects," he wrote. "A leaner org will execute its highest priorities faster. People will be more productive, and their work will be more fun and fulfilling."

The latest layoffs follow a year in which Meta saw declines in quarterly revenue for the first time as its ad business slowed down. In October, the company also said it expected to lose more money on Reality Labs (the division that runs Meta's virtual and augmented reality initiatives) in 2023 as it continues to build its vision of the metaverse. Zuckerberg touched on this in his note, stating that "I think we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years."

Last week, Meta announced price cuts for the Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets in an attempt to sell more units. The company recently unveiled another potential revenue stream in the form of Meta Verified, which allows users to pay for Instagram and Facebook verification along with some other perks.

Many notable tech companies have announced major rounds of layoffs over the last several months, including Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft. Twitter has been shedding staff almost on an ongoing basis since Elon Musk took over in October. So, Meta isn't alone here, but it's the first among its peers to have a second formal round of mass layoffs since late 2022.

You might need one less app — and forego a headache — next time you're out driving and need to find an EV charging station. Google will now provide Waze users with the locations of charging stations tailored to their specific car. 

Google has offered Waze users the ability to find charging stations along their drive since the end of 2021. But, this update is a small though significant change. Just share your car model and charging connectors with Google and Waze will thene show charging stations compatible with the given information. No more watching your battery dip precariously low only to reach an incompatible charging port. 

Google

EV sales are growing exponentially worldwide. According to the International Energy Agency, only 120,000 EVs sold globally in 2012. Within a decade, the same number of electric cars were being sold per week. Last September, President Biden set a goal that 50 percent of cars sold across the United States in 2030 will be electric. In line with this shift, US companies put over 700 million dollars towards electric vehicle charging in 2022. On top of that, they've put 13 billion dollars into domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles. 

The feature will roll out globally over the next few weeks. Local Map Editors within the Waze community will continue to review and make necessary changes to charging station information in real-time.

How many times have you experienced this scenario? You go shopping online for a new shirt, speaker or other item. You click on the same one a few times and then decide against it. Suddenly every website you visit has an ad featuring that item, imploring you to reconsider. In an effort to create greater privacy online, Mozilla is now rolling out Total Cookie Protection (TCP) as the default setting on the Firefox app for Android after initially making it available for Firefox users on Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

So, what does TCP do? TCP ensures that your cookies aren't being shared across sites. Typically, third-party cookies collect information about you from across the internet to build your virtual identity. Data brokers then sell your information to businesses that will provide you with targeted ads.

Instead, with TCP, the cookies you create while browsing only belong to the site you're on. This feature limits companies from learning any information you enter or behavior you exhibit anywhere else on the internet. So, a store may know you looked for a blue laptop case in their online shop, but they won't know you also searched for size 11 shoes in another one. 

As part of today's Android update, Mozilla says it's also promoting its Firefox Relay protection to become a dedicated part of the app. Relay, which initially launched as an addon and provides users with email and phone number masks for online signups, comes with a limited free tier but requires a subscription to get the most from the service.

The WiFi 7 standard still isn't final, but that isn't stopping Netgear from making the technology available to the public. The company has launched its first WiFi 7 router, the Nighthawk RS700S, and it's clear the speed isn't the only draw. While the 320MHz channels promise up to 5Gbps on WiFi 7, the main allure may be the very low lag — Netgear claims "100x lower" latency that should help with gaming, VR and other timing-sensitive apps. You may not be in a rush to plug your PC into an Ethernet jack, then.

The tri-band router offers coverage up to 3,500sq. ft thanks in part to a new antenna design, and can handle up to 200 simultaneously connected devices. You can create a mesh network if you need to cover a large home. A 10Gbps WAN Ethernet port makes sure the RS700S can support the fastest home fiber connections, although Netgear curiously limits the four local Ethernet ports to 1Gbps. You'll have to use WiFi if you want to make the most of this hardware.

The Nighthawk RS700S arrives in the US in the second quarter of the year, and will cost a steep $700. You're paying for the privilege of being first. With that said, it costs less than Netgear's WiFi 6-based Orbi 860 two-pack despite much stronger performance in its (admittedly smaller) coverage area. If you're more interested in raw throughput than range, this may be the better value.

The greater issue is compatibility. Only a limited number of devices have the components needed to support WiFi 7, and the new format isn't enabled. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the Galaxy S23 series is technically capable of WiFi 7, for example, but Samsung's phones officially support 'only' WiFi 6e. And while multi-gigabit internet service is becoming more commonplace, it's still rare enough that the RS700S' headroom may go unused. You're buying this router to future-proof your setup, not to realize any immediate speed gains.

In 30 minutes or less, TikToker and Chicago-based server Kristen Sotakoun can probably find your birth date. She’s not a cybersecurity expert, despite what some of her followers suspect, but has found a hobby in what she calls “consensual doxxing.”

“My first thing is to be entertaining. My second thing is to show you cracks in your social media, which was the totally accidental thing that I became on TikTok,” Sotakoun, who goes by @notkahnjunior, told me.

It’s not quite doxxing, which usually refers to making private information publicly available with malicious intent. Instead, it’s known in the cybersecurity field as open-source intelligence, or OSINT. People unknowingly spell out private details about their lives as a bread crumb trail across social media platforms that, when gathered together, paint a picture of their age, families, embarrassing childhood memories and more. In malicious cases, hackers gather information based on what you or your loved ones have published on the web to get into your accounts, commit fraud, or even socially engineer a user to fall for a scam.

Sotakoun mostly just tracks down an anonymous volunteer's birth date. She doesn’t have malicious intent or interest in a security career, she said she just likes to solve logic puzzles. Before TikTok, that was spending a ride home from a friend’s birthday dinner at Medieval Times discovering the day job of their “knight.” Sotakoun just happened to eventually go viral for her skills.

So, to show me her process, I let Sotakoun “consensually doxx” me. She found my Twitter pretty quickly, but because I keep it pretty locked down, it wasn’t super helpful. Information in author bios from my past jobs, however, helped her figure out where I went to college.

My name plus where I studied led her to my Facebook account, another profile that didn’t reveal much. It did, however, lead her to my sister, who had commented on my cover photo nine years ago. She figured out it was my sister because we shared a last name, and we’re listed as sisters on her Facebook. That’s important to note because I don’t actually share a last name with most of my other siblings, which could’ve been an additional roadblock.

My sister and I have pretty common names though, so Sotakoun also found my stepmom on my sister’s profile. By searching my stepmom’s much more unique name on Instagram, it helped lead Sotakoun to mine and my sister’s Instagram accounts, as opposed to one of the many other Malones online.

Still, my Instagram account is private. So, it was my sister’s Instagram account – that she took off “private” for a Wawa giveaway that ultimately won her a t-shirt – featuring years-old birthday posts that led Sotakoun to the day I was born. That took a ton of scrolling and, to correct for the fact that a birthday post could come a day late or early, Sotakoun relied on the fact that my sister once shared that my birthday coincided with World Penguin Day, April 25.

Then, to find the year, she cross-referenced the year I started college, which was 2016 according to my public LinkedIn, with information in my high school newspaper. My senior year of high school, I won a scholarship only available to seniors, Sotakoun discovered, revealing that I graduated high school in 2016. From there, she counted back 18 years, and told me that I was born on April 25, 1998. She was right.

“My goal is always to find context clues, or find people who care less about their online presence than you do,” Sotakoun said.

Many people will push back on the idea that having personal information online is harmful, according to Matt Edmondson, an OSINT instructor at cybersecurity training organization SANS Institute. While there are obvious repercussions to having your social security number blasted online, people may wonder what the harm is in seemingly trivial information like having your pet’s name easily available on social media. But if that also happens to be the answer to a security question, an attacker may be able to use that to get into your Twitter account or email.

In my case, I’ve always carefully tailored my digital footprint to keep my information hidden. My accounts are private and I don’t share a lot of personal information. Still, Sotakoun’s OSINT methods found plenty to work with.

Facebook and Instagram are Sotakoun’s biggest help for finding information, but she said she has also used Twitter, and even Venmo to confirm relationships. She specifically avoids resources like records databases that could easily give away information.

That means that there’s still a lot of data out there on each of us that Sotakoun isn’t looking for. Especially if you’re in the US, data like your date of birth, home address and more are likely already out there in some form, according to Steven Harris, an OSINT specialist that teaches at SANS.

“Once the data is out there, it’s very hard to take back,” Harris said. “What protects people is not that the information is securely locked away, it’s that most people don’t have the knowledge or inclination to go and find out.”

There are simple things you can do to keep attackers from using these details against you. Complex passwords and multi-factor authentication make it harder for unauthorized users to get into your account, even if they know the answers to your security questions.

That gets a bit more complicated, though, when we think about how much our friends and family post for us. In fact, Sotakoun said she noticed that even if a person takes many measures to hide themselves online, the lack of control over their social circle can help her discover their birth date.

“You have basically no control on your immediate social circle, or even your slightly extended social circle and how they present themselves online,” she said.

Master & Dynamic debuted its first headphones, the MH40, in 2014. That wired set established the brand's lineage of vintage-inspired audio gear with designs that set itself apart from the competition. The company announced a wireless version in 2019, and today its back with another update to the MH40. This new 2nd-generation wireless model packs in updated drivers, longer battery life, improved microphone performance and customizable sound. What's more, it's available today in five color options, including the navy/silver combo pictured above. 

The company says new 40mm titanium drivers offer a blend of "crystal clear highs and full-sounding lows," describing the overall audio profile from these units as "more expansive." Updated compatibility with the M&D Connect app allows you to choose from "several" EQ presets if the stock tuning doesn't suit you. Master & Dynamic says you can expect up to 30 hours of listening on a charge now, up from 18 hours on the first MH40 wireless model. There's also a quick-charge feature that will give you six hours of use in 15 minutes. 

Master & Dynamic explains that an updated microphone setup is equipped with wind reduction, plus you can opt for Sidetone in the app which will allow you to hear a bit your own voice during calls. Lastly, Bluetooth 5.2 gives the new MH40 a range of up to 100 feet (30 meters) and the headphones support AAC, SBC and aptX Adaptive (up to 24-bit/96kHz). And no, there still isn't active noise cancellation (ANC) on these. For that feature, the company offers the pricey MW75.

One thing that hasn't changed is the overall design. The vintage, aviator-inspired aesthetic returns, blending aluminum, the company's trademark grille, a coated canvas headband and removable leather ear pads. The updated MH40 will cost you $100 more than the previous version though, as the company is selling this one for $399.

Last year, Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announced Coverage Above and Beyond, a joint initiative to bring Starlink satellite coverage to compatible T-Mobile phones and other devices. Less than a year later, during a panel at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition 2023, SpaceX VP Jonathan Hofeller said the company would "start getting into testing" its satellite-to-cell service this year.

Hofeller didn't elaborate on which phone carriers SpaceX was working with, but the timeline certainly tallies with Musk's original vision for the T-Mobile partnership. In August, Musk said Starlink V2 would launch in 2023 and " transmit directly to mobile phones, eliminating dead zones worldwide." T-Mobile said the eventual service would give the carrier "near complete coverage" of most of the US, including National Parks and mountain ranges. And maybe that one airport terminal where I never get a signal. We can dream.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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The best Android phones for 2023

From budget to flagship, we have picks for every price range.

Engadget

Unlike the iOS ecosystem, where Apple is the only game in town, one of the best things about the Android phone market is all the choice. That said, when it comes time to upgrade, that wealth of options can make it difficult to choose the right handset for you. If you’re looking for a new phone and don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered with a selection of the best Android phones for every budget. Spoiler alert: the Pixel 6a is cheap and great.

Continue reading.

'The Last of Us' creators won't restrict 'Part II' to a single season

But will it be two or three seasons?

HBO

The first season of HBO’s The Last of Us wrapped up on Sunday night (read our thoughts on the finale right here), and the show's creators are already looking ahead to the challenge of adapting the second game. HBO swiftly greenlit a second season after the show became an immediate success, but that won't be enough to contain the events of The Last of Us Part II, as Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann confirmed to GQ. In the interview, Druckmann added: "It’s more than one season."

Continue reading.

Sony made a $600 point-and-shoot camera for the visually impaired

The viewfinder projects images directly onto a person’s retina.

Sony

Sony’s DSC-HX99 RNV is a camera kit designed for those with visual impairments. The system consists of a Sony point-and-shoot camera from 2018 and a viewfinder with a retinal laser projection system. The camera is a Cybershot DSC-HX99 with an 18-megapixel sensor and image stabilization. The HX99RNV kit will cost $600 this summer, so it won’t cost more than the DSC-HX99 camera on its own. In a show of support for the low-vision community, Sony says it’ll bear “the majority” of the cost to produce the device.

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Google’s latest feature drop brings faster Night Sight photos to the Pixel 6

Google is also bringing Magic Eraser and other features to older Pixels.

Night Sight, Google’s low-lit photography feature, is now faster for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro users. The company chalks up the speed boost to “new and improved algorithms” for the Tensor chip inside the phones. Additionally, the company says Magic Eraser is now available on all Pixel handsets. The highly marketed feature scrubs unwanted people or objects from photos, filling in the backgrounds behind them (usually) seamlessly. It was previously a Pixel 6 exclusive.

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So this is apparently what the Google Pixel 7a will look like. Vietnamese website Zing News (via The Verge) has shared photos of what it says is a prototype of the upcoming midrange phone that programmers were using as a test device. After its owner leaked photos of it online, Google reportedly locked the phone remotely, but not before they were able to check that it was running Android 13 and had a 90 Hz screen option in the Settings app. They were also able to confirm that the device has 8 GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

As you can see, the phone comes with a camera bar like its predecessors, but it's metal with a matte finish unlike the Pixel 6a's glass bar and the Pixel 7's polished aluminum one. It seems to have two 12-megapixel cameras — one standard and one super wide angle — like the Pixel 6a, as well.

The case itself is composed of two glass sides with a metal frame that has cutouts for the speakers and the USB-C charging port at the bottom. Along its edges, there's a slot for the SIM tray that can accommodate a single physical SIM card. The owner, who reportedly purchased the device from an acquaintance, wasn't able to confirm whether it has eSIM support. On the front with with its screen switched on, it's easy to see that it still has the 6a's thick bezel and a rather large front cam cutout. 

These new images and details confirm information from previous leaks, which included renders that showed a phone that looks similar to the Pixel 6a. Older photos also showed a device with a "Smooth Display" capability, allowing users to adjust its refresh rate from 60Hz to 90Hz, which is a first for the A-series line.

Google has yet to announce the Pixel 7a, but it has historically introduced its Pixel A devices at its annual I/O event. This year, the keynote for the developer conference will take place on May 10th.