The holidays are right around the corner and you might be a little more behind on your shopping than you’d like to admit. We don’t blame you — between family gatherings and the final work rush before PTO kicks in, it’s hard to find the time to go to a store to pick out presents. And once you get there, you could find half-empty shelves and very few choices. But that’s why we have the internet: you still have time to buy holiday gifts online.

USPS, UPS and FedEx have laid out their holiday shipping deadlines for 2023: Ship your items via USPS by December 16 to have them safely arrive before Christmas, while FedEx and UPS have deadlines of December 15 and December 18, respectively, for standard shipping. At this stage in the game, we recommend picking up small, affordable gifts that will ship quickly so you have plenty of time to wrap them up nicely and make it look like you had everything well-planned from the start. Here are the best last-minute Christmas gifts you can get right now and still have in time before the holidays.

Amazon Echo Dot with Clock

Freelancers

Anker 511 portable charger

JLab Go Air Pop

TP-Link Kasa smart lights

PopSocket Phone Wallet

Amazon Smart Plug

UE Wonderboom 3

Stanley IceFlow Tumbler

Anker magnetic power bank (10,000 mAh)

Apple AirTag

Tile Mate

Blink Mini Pan-Tilt Camera

8Bitdo Pro 2

Audible Premium Plus

Following a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla will recall over two million vehicles to make fixes to its Autopilot system, according to new NHTSA documents. Fixes will be issued to owners for free via over-the-air (OTA) updates to add features that ensure drivers pay attention while using Tesla's controversial driver assistance system. It affects all current Tesla EVs built since Autopilot launched in 2015, including the Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X. 

"The remedy will incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged," the NHTSA stated in a document. It noted that while Autopilot (specifically its Autosteer component) does have several controls to ensure drivers pay attention, they're not always enough. 

"In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature," the document states. That in turn may lead to "an increased risk of a collision." 

Tesla was ordered to address the driver monitoring system. "The remedy will incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged, which includes keeping their hands on the steering wheel and paying attention to the roadway," it states. Those will include more prominent visual alerts, making it easier to turn Autosteer on and off, and eventual suspension from Autosteer if the driver fails to behave responsibly on an ongoing basis. 

In a letter to the NHTSA, Tesla acknowledged the order and said it would issue the required fix. "Tesla will release an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed February 10, 2023." The order affects 2,031,220 vehicles, though models that went into production after December 7th will have already incorporated the update. 

The NHTSA said last August that it was opening an investigation into Autopilot following 11 crashes with parked first responder vehicles since 2018 that resulted in 17 injuries and one death. In a letter to Tesla sent shortly afterward, the regulator requested detailed documentation on how the driver assistance system works. Specifically, it wanted to know how it ensures that human drivers will keep their eyes on the road while Autopilot is engaged and whether there are limits on where it can be used.

Apple is adding a new iPhone feature called Stolen Device Protection, which limits what thieves can do with a stolen phone and passcode. It combines location, biometric scans and time delays, allowing victims to lock out the perpetrator and safeguard their data.

Stolen Device Protection defends against iPhone thieves who monitor users entering their passcode before snatching the device. With the passcode, the perpetrator could reset the owner’s Apple ID password, turn off Find My tracking, change an Apple ID password and a lot more.

With this still-in-beta feature turned on, the phone will ask for a Face ID or Touch ID scan if the device is away from a familiar location, like home or work. It will also require a one-hour delay before changing the Apple ID password on the device. After the hour, it will still ask for a Face ID or Touch ID Scan before changing the Apple ID password from the iPhone.

— Mat Smith

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The end of E3

It was once the biggest gaming show in the world.

MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, is officially dead. “After more than two decades of E3, each one bigger than the last, the time has come to say goodbye. Thanks for the memories,” the Entertainment Software Association, E3’s organizer, wrote on X. The industry trade group closed the statement with “GGWP” — good game, well played.

The ESA said, after major names pulled out of this year’s planned E3, the event “simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength and impact of our industry.”

While E3 may be gone, gaming events aren’t going away. Gamescom, held in Germany, is far larger than E3 in attendance and other factors. There’s also Summer Game Fest, a sort-of E3 replacement The Game Awards producer and host Geoff Keighley started in 2020 and expanded last year to include a physical event for the first time. The likes of Capcom, Ubisoft and Xbox held games showcases in association with SGF this year. The event will return for its fifth edition in 2024.

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Netflix reveals ‘what we watched’

It’s the first engagement report it’s ever released.

Netflix

Netflix has published the first of a new twice-a-year engagement report called What We Watched. It launched Tuesday as a Microsoft Excel file (!) and lists the hours viewed for every title that tallied more than 50,000 viewing hours, making it the first ultra-detailed glimpse at what people watch on Netflix.

Top hits include the first season of the action-thriller series The Night Agent (nope, not heard of it), with 812,100,000 hours watched. In second place was season two of the drama Ginny & Georgia (I don’t know her or her) with 665,100,000 hours. Korean show The Glory (three for three…) came third with 622,800,000 hours watched.

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Apple may lift NFC restrictions in Europe to escape antitrust fines

Rivals could use tap-and-go payments without Apple Pay.

Apple is attempting to avoid another legal battle with the European Union. The company is allegedly offering its rivals access to its Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, used for tap-and-go payments, following the European Commission’s ongoing probe into Apple’s potential antitrust Apple Pay practices. While Apple’s current proposal could get it out of a hefty fine and settle the case against it, it’s not guaranteed to move forward.

It’s not just Europe, either. Apple faces a lawsuit in the United States, brought in July 2022 by Iowa’s Affinity Credit Union, which accuses the company of engaging in anti-competitive behavior by illegally restricting iOS users to Apple Pay for any contactless payment.

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Several years ago, Land Rover announced plans to offer electrified versions of all its vehicle and that process has finally begun. The company teased the Range Rover Electric in a press release and video, promising an 800 volt architecture and all the benefits of a modern EV. At the same time, it'll be just as powerful and capable off-road as its gas-guzzling counterparts.

Apart from some aspirational promises, details are still sparse. To start with, it'll supposedly have "performance comparable to a flagship Range Rover V8 and the all-terrain capability developed in-house by Land Rover experts." That all-terrain capability includes the ability to wade through 850mm of water (2.8 feet), though the current V8-powered 2023 Range Rover already offers 900mm of depth. 

Land Rover

The new model will supposedly be the "quietest and most refined Range Rover ever created," the company said, thanks to "active road noise cancellation configuration and sound design, plus cabin comfort levels enabled by its electric underpinnings." In other words, it'll take advantage of the relatively low noise levels and simplicity of an electric drivetrain, like other luxury EVs.

The new model will be built on Jaguar Land Rover's Modular Longitudinal Architecture (LMA) based on an 800 volt architecture, something that generally supports added charging power, enhanced performance, increased efficiency and weight savings. That, the company says, will help enable "fast-charging on public networks," among other benefits.  

The company is also promising "a seamless electric ownership experience — effortless charging, energy partnerships, software-over-the-air updates and intelligent technology to maximise range." On top of that, the vehicle and and batteries will both be built in the UK in Solihull and Wolverhampton, respectively.

Range, performance and other key specifications, along with full photos of the vehicle are still missing. If you're undeterred by that and swayed by Land Rover's promo video (featuring glimpses of the vehicle, a model in a gold dress wearing green rubber boots, some koi fish and plenty of water), you can now join the waiting list. 

If you need a spare gamepad for your Xbox or PC, Microsoft's wireless Xbox Series X/S controller is currently available for $45 at Amazon. That's close to the lowest price we've seen and the sale applies to multiple finishes (carbon black, blue and velocity green). 

The Series X/S controller is the classic well-balanced model with responsive face buttons, triggers, and joysticks. The d-pad offers nice tactility compared to Sony's DualSense PS5 controller, though it still uses an asymmetrical joystick layout. It comes with Bluetooth connectivity so you can use it with a PC or mobile device, plus a dedicated "Share" button for screen and video capture. 

While you don't get the advanced haptic feedback features of the DualSense, it fits nicely in your hand and is generally easier to use on a PC — especially for clients besides Steam. Alternatives like the 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller and Microsoft's own Elite Series 2 pad offer a wider array of features, but if you just need the basics, the standard Xbox controller is solid.

The primary drawback is a reliance on AA, rather than rechargeable batteries for power. That lets it last longer on a charge than the DualSense, but you'll have to buy a separate rechargeable battery pack if you don't want to regularly swap out batteries. If you can live with that limitation, the sale offers a cheap way to get an extra high-quality controller or two. 

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Generative AI is nothing new for Snapchat users, with the app's "My AI" suite offering the likes of a free ChatGPT-powered chatbot, as well as the freemium AI-generated "Dreams" selfie effects, Bitmoji backgrounds and more. In the latest update, Snapchat+ subscribers can now leverage AI to extend images — or "zoom out" — at the click of a button, thus making the social media app even more practical. Say you have a snapshot of your pet but it's a little too close, just click on the crop button on the right menu, and then hit the "Extend" button at the bottom. Voilà!

The updated My AI also lets subscribers directly generate Snaps by typing a simple prompt. In the viewfinder, click the "AI" button on the right, then type in whatever you desire (within reason, of course), and shortly, you'll have an image to tinker with before sharing. Snap suggests you try silly prompts like "a dog sleeping on a rocket" or "a planet made out of cheese."

Last but not least, the aforementioned Dreams feature now lets you generate fantastical portraits with friends in them. On the Dreams page, simply pick a friend, hit "Done," and then you'll be able to share the generated portrait of you both. Like before, Snapchat+ subscribers are given one pack of eight Dreams selfies every month, whereas non-subscribers only get one pack as a free trial, before they consider signing up for the $4-a-month service. Regardless, all users can buy more for $0.99 per pack.

Snap's ongoing AI efforts seem to be paying off, with its number of subscribers rocketing from five million in September to seven million today — getting one step closer to the ten million "medium-term goal" set by CEO Evan Spiegel back in April, as reported by Time Magazine. Of course, given the fierce competition like Meta which offers similar features for free, Snap will have to keep churning out new AI-powered tools to keep its platform fun and fresh.

Xbox is giving you a detailed look at how much you've gamed and which titles you've truly enjoyed playing this year. Its 2023 recap shows your total time gaming on the system over the past year, the month you'd been most active on the Xbox, your total achievements and your top genres in a pie chart, which could give you an idea whether your taste in games has changed over time. Of course, you'll also get to see a list of games that you've played the most this year, ranked based on how much time you've spent on each one.

The recap will also let you know if you've unlocked rare achievements. And it will show how you stack up against other fans when it comes to the number of hours you've gamed, your gamerscore, and your total number of achievements — stats that could fuel your competitive nature and compel you to game more, or make you realize if you've been spending a bit too much time playing. 

Since it's that time of the year when everybody and every brand looks back over the past months, you can get an overview of your gaming life even if the Xbox isn't your system of choice. If you're more of a PlayStation gamer, Sony also recently rolled out its wrap-up recap for 2023 that contains the same information, along with game recommendations based on your history, perhaps to encourage you to rack up more gaming hours in 2024. 

Threads is going to make an effort to moderate more of the user-generated content on the platform. Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, posted that it is working on creating a fact-checking program. Mosseri didn’t lay out what such a program would entail, only saying that Threads is going to “match fact-check ratings from Facebook or Instagram to Threads.” Currently, fact-checkers can't rate content on Threads, so instead when something gets flagged as being false on Instagram or Facebook, a fact-checker’s ratings will also roll over onto the app. “Our goal is for fact-checking partners to have the ability to review and rate misinformation on the app,” Mosseri wrote.

The program is expected to be available early next year. Meta said third-party fact-checking partners will flag and review the content that circulates on Threads. The app’s users will be given the choice to increase, lower or maintain the default level of “demotions on fact-checked content” in personal feeds. Meta says if a user decides to see less sensitive content on Instagram, those settings will roll over into their Threads view.

Social media companies, like Threads, have to consider expanding guardrails to prevent misinformation from proliferating on their platforms, especially ahead of the coming presidential elections. A fact-checking system on the Threads app isn’t a huge shock considering recent moves by the company. When the company introduced a search tool, it blocked certain words “previously linked” to misinformation on Meta’s platform.

However, offering users a fact-checking feature does not necessarily mean Threads will become the new front page for digital news. Mosseri told TechCrunch that the platform, as of now, does not plan on “amplifying the news” on its platform.

Netflix has published the first of a new twice-a-year engagement report called “What We Watched.” The first installment, launched Tuesday as a Microsoft Excel file, lists the hours viewed for every title (original and licensed) that has tallied more than 50,000 viewing hours. Although it’s an uneven performance comparison since episodic series will rack up many more hours than standalone films, this is the first ultra-detailed glimpse at what people watch on Netflix.

The first spreadsheet, covering January to June 2023, includes 18,214 entries of eligible content. The first season of the action-thriller series The Night Agent: Season 1 sat comfortably at the top with 812,100,000 hours during that period. Following (far behind) in second place was season two of the drama Ginny & Georgia (665,100,000 hours). Rounding out the top five are season one of The Glory (622,800,000), the inaugural season of the Jenny Ortega-led Wednesday (507,700,000) and the limited prequel series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (503,000,000).

The J.Lo action flick The Mother was the top-ranked movie on the list, raking in 249,900,000 viewing hours and falling at number 20 behind a glut of multi-episode series. Idris Elba’s Luther: The Fallen Sun (209,700,000) came in at 26, while the Chris Hemsworth vehicle Extraction 2 (201,800,000) slotted in at 29.

Netflix

In addition to hours viewed, the spreadsheet denotes each title’s release date and whether it’s available globally. For curiosity’s sake, the lowest-ranking globally available item on the list is the 2020 comedy special Yours Sincerely, Kanan Gill.

Netflix stressed the importance of not using total hours viewed alone to determine a movie or series’ impact. “Success on Netflix comes in all shapes and sizes, and is not determined by hours viewed alone,” the streamer wrote in its announcement blog post. “We have enormously successful movies and TV shows with both lower and higher hours viewed. It’s all about whether a movie or TV show thrilled its audience — and the size of that audience relative to the economics of the title.”

Netflix says the new biannual spreadsheets will combine with its weekly Top 10 and Most Popular lists to paint a more comprehensive picture for viewers, creators and industry watchers.

You can rev up Excel or Numbers and download the inaugural Netflix spreadsheet drop here.

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are about to get some powerful upgrades thanks to improvements to the social network’s AI assistant. The company is finally adding support for real-time information to the onboard assistant, and it’s starting to test new “multimodal” capabilities that allow it to answer questions based on your environment.

Up to now, Meta AI had a “knowledge cutoff” of December 2022, so it couldn’t answer questions about current events, or things like game scores, traffic conditions or other queries that would be especially useful while on the go. But that’s now changing, according to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, who said that all Meta smart glasses in the United States will now be able to access real-time info. The change is powered “in part” by Bing, he added.

Separately, Meta is starting to test one of the more intriguing capabilities of its assistant, which it’s calling “multimodal AI.” The features, first previewed during Connect, allow Meta AI to answer contextual questions about your surroundings and other queries based on what your looking at through the glasses.

Meta

The updates could go a long way toward making Meta AI feel less gimmicky and more useful, which was one of my top complaints in my initial review of the otherwise impressive smart glasses. Unfortunately, it will likely still be some time before most people with the smart glasses can access the new multimodal functionality. Bosworth said that the early access beta version will only be available in the US to a “small number of people who opt in” initially, with expanded access presumably coming sometime in 2024.

Both Mark Zuckerberg shared a few videos of the new capabilities that give an idea of what may be possible. Based on the clips, it appears users will be able to engage the feature with commands that begin with “Hey Meta, look and tell me.” Zuckerberg, for example, asks Meta AI to look at a shirt he’s holding and ask for suggestions on pants that might match. He also shared screenshots showing Meta AI identifying an image of a piece of fruit and translating the text of a meme.

In a video posted on Threads, Bosworth said that users would also be able to ask Meta AI about their immediate surroundings as well as more creative questions like writing captions for photos they just shot.