When Twitter quietly updated its developer policies to ban third-party clients from its platform, it abruptly closed an important chapter of Twitter’s history. Unlike most of its counterparts, which tightly control what developers are able to access, Twitter has a long history with independent app makers.

Now, the developers of some Twitter clients are turning their attention to another upstart platform: Mastodon. This week, Tapbots, the studio behind Tweebot, released Ivory, a Mastodon client based on its longtime Twitter app. Matteo Villa, the developer behind Twitter app Fenix, is testing a Mastodon client of his own called Wooly. Junyu Kuang, the indie developer behind Twitter client Spring is working on a Mastodon app called Mona. Shihab Mehboob, developer of Twitter app Aviary, is close to launching a Mastodon client called Mammoth.

The one-time Twitter developers join a growing group of independent app makers who have embraced Mastodon, the open-source social network that’s seen explosive growth since Elon Musk took over Twitter. The decentralized service now has more than 1.5 million users across nearly 10,000 servers. That, coupled with Mastodon’s open-source, “API-first” approach, has attracted dozens of developers eager to put their own spin on the service.

Mastodon

Paul Haddad, one of the developers behind Tweetbot and Ivory, says Tapbots started working on a Mastodon client late last year as they started to grow nervous about the future of Twitter’s developer platform.

“They [Twitter] had absolutely been making huge strides and opening up their API platform, but clients like ours were always going to be second- or third-class citizens,” says Haddad. “Whereas with Mastodon, that's absolutely not the case.”

Thomas Ricouard, the developer behind Ice Cubes, a Mastodon app that launched earlier this month, says that he had considered building an app with Twitter's API in the past, but decided against it because it was “looking more and more limited as the days passed.” At the same time, he says he noticed fewer and fewer familiar faces on his Twitter timeline. “Loving open source software,” he says, “I quickly saw the opportunity [for Mastodon].”

Ice Cubes launched in the App Store January 19th, and it has already won the praise of reviewers and has dozens of contributors on GitHub. Even Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, who has been more active on Mastodon lately, uses the app.

On its part, Mastodon has welcomed developer interest even though it maintains its own mobile apps. “It's exciting because it means that a lot of very talented people are investing their time and resources into building on the platform and ecosystem that we have built up,” Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko tells Engadget. “Third party applications are incredibly valuable for a platform because that's where the power users go … it benefits everybody because the power users are the people who create the content that everybody reads.”

Developers’ contributions also have the potential to influence the direction of the platform itself. Just as Twitter’s earliest developers had an outsize impact on the service, some developers now see an opportunity to similarly influence Mastodon.

Both Ricouard and Haddad noted that official Mastodon apps currently don’t support quoting — the Mastodon equivalent of a quote tweet — but some clients, like Ice Cubes and Mona, do. “I think the client developers are able to implement that feature within the app, we're probably going to push it to go higher up on the radar of the Mastodon server developers,” Haddad predicts. Mastodon so far hasn’t publicly committed to adding quotes but Rochko, who was once adamantly against the feature, recently said he’s considering it.

Mastodon developers have experimented with other unique additions, too. Ice Cubes has Chat GPT-powered prompts that will spice up the text of your post (or "toot" as they are known to longtime Mastodon users). Wooly groups notifications in batches, similar to Twitter. Tapbots is working on a Mac app that will sync with Ivory’s iOS app, much like Tweetbot did across platforms.

“Mastodon is in the [same] early phase Twitter was, where third party apps will have a big impact on the future product focus and development,” says Ricouard.

Rochko says that while he’s happy to see the growing number of Mastodon clients, he’s not in a hurry to try to replicate their features. Mastodon is still a nonprofit with a small team and a lengthy product roadmap. “It's definitely interesting to see different ideas tested out and experimented with and I think that long term, there's probably going to be influence over the official apps,” he says.

Still, not every former Twitter client developer is eager to start over on Mastodon. “I’m not sure if I want to create a Mastodon app but you should definitely check out those other developers who have,” Tweetings said in a farewell post on Twitter. Twitterrific’s developers are also unsure if Mastodon fits into their future plans.

Much will likely depend on if Mastodon is able to maintain its current growth and continue to attract new users. And as much as many former Twitter users see it as a replacement, Mastodon is structured very differently, and not everyone finds it as user-friendly as Twitter. Rochko, who started Mastodon in 2017, says he’s optimistic because the site continues to add influential users.

“What's exciting to me about the latest wave of users on Mastodon is not the numbers but the who. The people who have joined from various journalist organizations, media organizations, politicians, actors, writers, and just you know, famous internet people — like the olden days.”

When Bowers & Wilkins announced its Px7 S2 headphones last year, the company made it clear that it already had a more premium offering nearly ready for prime time. Three months later, the Px8 arrived. While the Px8 carries a similar look to its predecessor, Bowers & Wilkins crafted this set of headphones out of more luxurious materials and managed to improve what was already great sound quality. However, the upgrades come at a steep price: the $699 Px8 is $300 more than the Px7 S2.

Design

At a glance, the Px8 looks nearly identical to the Px7 S2 Bowers & Wilkins debuted last year. Upon close inspection though, the differences become apparent. The Px8 has a slightly more refined aesthetic, with soft leather replacing the woven fabric on the outside of the headband and ear cups. The outermost panels of the earcups, where the company’s wordmark resides, is now metal instead of plastic. And the arms and headband slider are cast aluminum, further complementing the more premium design.

The Px8 weighs 13 grams more than the Px7 S2, which is probably (at least partially) due to the change in materials. Memory foam ear cushions keep things comfy, but you can feel the extra load if you’re doing a side-by-side comparison. For that reason, I give a slight edge to the S2 if you need something to wear for several hours at a time. After a Vegas to Atlanta flight this month, I was starting to feel the added weight – and also the rings around the ear cups.

On-board controls are still physical buttons on the Px8, and they’re in the exact same locations as the Px7 S2. On the right, a power/pairing slider sits above a trio of buttons for volume, playback and calls. Over on the left side, a single control toggles between active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode and both off. While some companies have nixed buttons in favor of touch panels, those aren’t always reliable, but what Bowers & Wilkins offers here certainly gets the job done.

Software

Billy Steele/Engadget

The Bowers & Wilkins Music app gives you access to all of the settings on the Px8, just like it has for the company’s previous headphones. On the main screen, there’s up-to-date battery status with noise mode selection just below (ANC, Pass-through and off). You can also manage connections here as the Px8 supports multipoint Bluetooth with two devices. Lastly, the company has put media controls (if you link compatible services), tone settings, a quick start guide and product support right on that first panel.

Once you dive deeper into the settings section, battery life percentage and noise mode (or Environmental Control as the company calls it) are prominently displayed once more. Treble and bass sliders are there as well, allowing for very basic EQ tweaks. The company hasn’t provided any presets here, so you’re left with those two variables to adjust. The ability to manage connections is repeated here as well, just above the option to reassign the Quick Action button on the left earcup. By default, it cycles between sound modes. However, if you prefer, you can make it summon a voice assistant.

The last two notable items have to do with power management. First, Bowers & WIlkins offers an automatic standby feature that activates a low power state after 15 minutes of inactivity. You can switch it off if you’d like. The second tool is the ability to activate or disable the wear sensor for automatic pausing. The company says this should pause music when you lift one earcup, but that isn’t always the case. Bowers & Wilkins gives you three sensitivity options to help fine-tune it (low, medium and high), but none of those remedy the fact that the Px8 – like the Px7 S2 – is slow to pause when you lift an ear cup or take them off your head. This could still use some work so that at the very least audio resumes quicker after a break.

Sound quality

Billy Steele/Engadget

One key area the Px8 differs from the Px7 S2 is sound quality. Where the latter packs in a pair of 40mm bio cellulose drivers, the former is equipped with two carbon units of the same size. I’ll admit I don’t know enough about headphone construction to tell you if one is technically better than the other, but what I do know is that the Px8 sounds incredible. The Px7 S2 already had great audio quality, but Bowers & Wilkins somehow manages to take things a step further with this model.

There’s a warmth to the sound profile that invites you to sit and listen a while, no matter the genre. An almost extreme clarity to the audio keeps the most chaotic metal perfectly organized, allowing you to pick out individual instruments. And in the case of Underoath’s Voyuerist, it’s easy to distinguish the backing synth even when it’s very subtle or laid underneath the full band going flat out. The amount of detail the Px8 exudes from bluegrass and jazz tracks is staggering, making it seem like you’re in the room with Béla Fleck as he recorded My Bluegrass Heart. It’s not just banjo, guitar, bass, mandolin and fiddle. You can hear the nuance in the sound of each one as they envelope you.

And it’s more than the clarity and detail. The Px8 is a well-tuned powerhouse for bass-heavy electronic music and hip-hop too. When a track demands it, these headphones tap into a stash of low-end that rivals some of the best. And like everything else, you can hear the subtlety in the kick drum, drum machine and bass line. That’s true across the board, whether it’s bombastic beats of RTJ4 or the intricate synth work on Sylvan Esso’s No Rules Sandy.

In terms of active noise cancellation, the Px8 does an admirable job. It’s not miles better than the Px7 S2, but in nearly every circumstance – including on an airplane – these headphones are up to the task. Bose and Sony manage to block out more on the QuietComfort 45 and the WH-1000XM5 respectively, but Bowers & Wilkins didn’t phone it in here. There’s some solid ANC performance, it’s just not the absolute best.

Call quality

Bowers & Wilkins says it moved two of the six on-board microphones closer together and re-angled them to improve voice quality. The company explained that these tweaks should also reduce wind noise. Call audio for the person on the other end was already good on the Px7 S2, but the lack of a natural-sounding transparency mode made me feel a bit shouty during voice and video chats. On the Px8, that pass-through audio is still good, but not great, and not as natural sounding as the AirPods Max.

The Px8 does a great job of cutting down on background noise, though, so the headphones will help whoever is on the other end focus on your voice. However, overall voice quality isn’t great as you’ll still sound like you’re on speaker phone rather than having a decent mic near your face. Are they fine for most video and voice calls? Sure. If you’re doing those things often should you consider these as your primary tool? Probably not.

Battery life

Billy Steele/Engadget

Bowers & Wilkins has a track record of under promising and over delivering when it comes to battery life on its headphones. The company consistently outperforms the stated figure by a mile and the same is true on the Px8. Much like the Px7 S2, this model still had 40 percent left in the tank at the 30-hour mark – the company’s official rating. And yes, that’s with active noise cancellation turned on over the course of a few days, plus the occasional use of transparency mode for calls. After 30 hours on the Px7 S2, there was 33 percent left, so the Px8 seems to be slightly more efficient than its more affordable sibling – or perhaps has a slightly bigger battery.

The company has included a quick-charge feature that gives you seven hours of listening time in 15 minutes. That’s nice if you find yourself in a pinch, but with well over 30 hours of ANC use available, I’m only charging once a week after using the Px8 a few hours each day. The battery life here stacks up well against the best you can get in noise-canceling headphones right now.

The competition

At $699, the Px8 is the most expensive set of wireless noise-canceling headphones I’ve reviewed. Even Master & Dynamic’s priciest model is $100 cheaper (the MW75). You have to really dig what Bowers & Wilkins is putting down to dive in here. Simply put, there are great alternatives available for less – some of which offer more features. Heck, I’d argue the company’s own Px7 S2 is a better value at $399.

The Px7 S2 may not have the high-end look of the Px8, but it does have excellent sound quality, solid ANC performance and better-than-advertised battery life. The company’s warm, crisp and clear audio is on display on the more affordable model and it’s more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Aside from the boost in overall sound quality and that refined design, the Px7 S2 has every other feature you get on the Px8 – for a lot less.

At this point, Sony’s WH-1000XM5 is still the best you can buy, mostly for the mix of audio and noise-canceling performance, with a long list of handy features on the side. The two most notable are the M5’s ability to automatically change sound modes based on your location or activity and the Speak-to-Chat tool that pauses the audio when you begin to speak. Simply put, no other company comes close to packing in as much as Sony.

Wrap-up

When a pair of headphones costs $699, I start to expect things. Mainly that they need to be damn near perfect for me to recommend them. The Px8 nearly is when it comes to sound quality, but there are other areas where they fall short of the company’s previous model and some of the competition. Automatic pausing is still in need of refinement, even with the sensitivity settings. And overall, the Px7 S2 is much more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Bowers & Wilkins impresses with this most premium offering, but there are still some rough edges to smooth out.

Apple's rumored mixed reality headset may help you create apps even if you don't know how to code. The Informationsources claim Apple is working on a tool that would let anyone create augmented reality apps with Siri. You'd only have to tell the voice assistant what you want — you could have digital animals scurrying around the room without the need for modelling, animation or conventional programming software.

The AR creation tool is said to be based on technology from Fabric Software, a Canadian company Apple quietly bought in 2017. The acquired startup's Fabric Engine let developers automatically create environments and objects using procedural generation, a technique used in games like No Man's Sky. A Fabric co-founder, Peter Zion, is believed to be running the development tool project. Apple also bought DigitalRune, which sought to make 3D game development easier, in 2016.

Apple might also save you the trouble of creating unique objects for headset apps. You could scan and import objects that, if all goes well, would look and behave realistically. You wouldn't have to rely on Apple-made stock models. Existing like Object Capture (which creates 3D models from iPhone photos) and RoomPlan (for virtual floor plans) are apparently part of these efforts.

The company has already declined comment. The state of the Siri-based development tool isn't known, but the sources say Apple's original plan was to release the suite at the same time as the headset. Current rumors have the wearable arriving as soon as this spring. 

According to past rumors, the initial mixed reality headset (possibly named Reality Pro) may be very expensive and aimed more at professionals than everyday users. However, leaks suggest Apple is still building features that would appeal to a mainstream audience, such as FaceTime calls with avatars as well as health and fitness apps that could include a meditation experience. Combined with the easy development tool, Apple may be setting the stage for a lower-priced wearable by fostering the app ecosystem — there could be plenty of apps by the time there's a headset you can afford.

Right around the Super Bowl is typically a good time for TV deals, as the major brands often lower prices on their older models in order to clear out inventory for their newer (and subsequently more expensive) sets arriving later in the year. In many cases, though, those older TVs can still represent good value. We're seeing this trend again this week, with well-reviewed options from LG, Samsung, TCL and others all available for all-time lows. We've noted a few highlights below, including a 48-inch LG C2 OLED TV for $947 and a 55-inch TCL 5-Series Roku TV for $370. And besides TVs, our weekly deal roundup includes Amazon's Fire HD 10 for $85, plus discounts on a handful of Anker chargers and Samsung storage devices, among others. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.

The 48-inch version of LG's C2 OLED TV is down to a new all-time low of $947. While LG is promising improved brightness with its 2023 lineup, last year's C2 should still offer an excellent image in darker or moderately-lit rooms, with the kind of high contrast, deep black tones, and wide viewing angles that are expected from a premium OLED panel.

If you want a larger step up, Samsung's S95B is generallyregarded as a superior TV overall, one that can get bright and saturated enough to look good in well-lit rooms but doesn't sacrifice the typical benefits of an OLED display. It's back down to $1,448 for a 55-inch panel and $1,798 for 65-inch panel; neither of those are cheap, but both deals match the lowest prices we've seen.

If you're looking to pay less than $500 on a new TV, reviewers we trust at Rtings, Wirecutter and elsewhere have praised TCL's latest 5-Series TVs for delivering impressive contrast and color performance at an affordable price. The panel tops out at a standard 60Hz refresh rate, but it has full-array local dimming and supports all the major HDR formats. Both the 55- and 65-inch 5-Series TVs are down to new lows at Amazon and Best Buy this week, coming in at $370 and $500, respectively.

Just note that these are Roku TVs. If you prefer the Google TV interface, Hisense's U6H is a good alternative that's available for the same prices, but it doesn't get as bright as TCL's model.

Amazon's entry-level Fire HD 10 is on sale for $85, which is $10 more than the 10.1-tablet's previous low at the retailer but still about $30 below its typical street price in recent months. This is the slate to get if you just want something competent for less than $100: Its hardware is nowhere near as nice as an iPad, but its 1920x1200 display is perfectly serviceable, it gets 12-ish hours of battery life, and it's performant enough for basic streaming and web browsing. Just remember that, like all Amazon tablets, it it comes with lockscreen ads unless you pay extra and lacks (official) access to Google's Play Store.

Anker's Nano II 65W is an ultracompact GaN charger with enough power to charge most phones, tablets and even many laptops at full speed. Right now it's on sale for $35, which is $3 above the lowest price we've seen but $15 off its usual going rate. This deal comes as part of a wider range of discounts on Anker charging gear going on this week; other standouts include a multi-port variant of this charger for $46 (with an on-page coupon), and a MagSafe-compatible wireless charging pad for $45.

The 512GB version of Samsung's Evo Select microSD card is currently on sale for $47, which is only about $2 more than the lowest price we've tracked. Typically, it retails closer to $55. The U3- and V30-rated Evo Select isn't the absolute fastest microSD card in a vacuum, but it's still more than capable of handling 4K video or storing games with minimal fuss. At this price, it's a good value if you just want to dump a bunch of storage into a GoPro, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck or the like.

Along those lines, the 2TB version of Samsung's 980 Pro SSD is on sale for $180, which is roughly $25 below the NVMe drive's average street price over the last few months. If you don't need that much space, the 500GB model is also on sale for $75, which matches an all-time low. A PCIe 4.0 drive like this isn't essential for most, and the 980 Pro is technically an older model now, but we note it here because it meets Sony's requirements for expanding the PlayStation 5's storage. You'll just need to add a cheap heatsink along with it. (Samsung sells a variant with an integrated heatsink, but it costs more.)

If the 980 Pro runs out of stock, note that the WD Black SN850X is also on sale for $10 more at Best Buy. That one is a bit faster than the 980 Pro, though its gains aren't as noticeable in the context of a PS5. If you're looking to upgrade an old computer's HDD to a cheap SSD, meanwhile, Crucial's MX500 is a dependable SATA drive, and it's currently down to an all-time low of $62.

The bird-themed board game Wingspan is down to $39 at Amazon, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. We've previously recommended this one in past gift guides; besides being gorgeous to look at it, it's a thoughtful engine-building game that is welcoming to less experienced players. Games typically last between 40 minutes to just over an hours, and up to five players can join in, so it should be a worthy addition to any family game night rotations you put together.

There always seems to be at least one PC game sale going on at any given time, but if you're looking for something new to play, that's not a bad thing. This week it's Humble's turn, as the digital storefront has kicked off a "Winter Sale" that's scheduled to run until February 7. 

There are too many games included in the sale for us to list them all here, but some personal picks include the open-world Western Red Dead Redemption 2 for $20, the tricky 2D platformer Celeste for $5, the classic JRPG Persona 4 Golden for $14, the relaxing puzzle game Unpacking for $14 and the charming 3D platformer Psychonauts 2 for $20. 

All of those are deals we've seen before, but most match the lowest prices we've seen. If you prefer to buy on Steam, a number of the sale's discounts are available there as well, as are a few others of note, like the co-op friendlyHalo: The Master Chief Collection for $16 and the wild FPS Titanfall 2 for $3.

We gave LG's latest CineBeam ultra short-throw projector, the HU915QE, a review score of 87 earlier this week, praising its contrast and color performance, decent built-in speakers and classy design. Our main complaint was that its asking price was too high, but a new deal at Wellbots alleviates that concern a bit, as you can now grab the projector for $4,297 if you use the code ENGTV700 at checkout. 

Clearly, that's still not cheap, but it at least brings the HU915QE closer to other UST projectors we like such as the Formovie Theater. For reference, the device has typically retailed closer to $5,000 in recent months. If you do take the plunge, just be aware that we found the CineBeam's input lag to be a bit too high for gaming, and that there's no support for Dolby Vision HDR.

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

Pro surfers will soon start using an Apple Watch during competitions. The World Surf League (WSL) has designated the wearable as official wearable equipment. The organization says it's the first time that Apple Watch is being "used as official competitor equipment in a professional sports environment."

Before each heat, every surfer on the Championship Tour will receive an Apple Watch that's preloaded with the new WSL Surfer app. They can use it to keep track of scores, wave priority and times. The app, which works on Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra, syncs with the WSL's scoring system in real time. The WSL says Apple Watch fits the bill thanks to its durability, cellular data connectivity and large, bright screen.

"The noise of the wind and the waves can sometimes make it impossible to hear the announcers while competing, and that means you miss crucial information," Ítalo Ferreira, the 2019 WSL champion and an Olympic gold medalist, said in a statement. "Challenging conditions can make it hard to see the beach and a priority penalty could cost you the heat, so not needing to rely on seeing the beach or hearing the announcers makes a huge difference and prevents guesswork."

The WSL didn't say which Apple Watch model competitors will use, but the Ultra makes the most sense. It has the largest screen of any Apple Watch to date and it's the most rugged version the company has built. Apple says the Ultra has more accurate GPS and water resistance than its other models.

The 2023 WSL Championship Tour starts this weekend in Oahu, Hawaii. If you're interested to see how the Apple Watch is used in pro sports, you can watch the event on YouTube, the WSL's app or the organization's website. Meanwhile, the second season of docuseries Make or Break, which follows competitors on the Championship Tour, will hit Apple TV+ in February.

Samsung is holding its first Unpacked event of 2023 on February 1st, and many expect the Galaxy S23 family to be the centerpiece. The company has even teased a few details, such as camera and performance upgrades. But will this phone lineup be a major revision, or a modest yearly refresh? Let’s take a look at what you’re likely to see when Samsung takes to the stage in San Francisco.

Galaxy S23 Ultra

If the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s main appeal was its Note-style pen functionality, the S23 Ultra may revolve around its camera system. Rumors from leaker Ice Universe and others have long pointed to the highest-end S23 model sporting a 200-megapixel main camera, and Samsung added fuel to the discussion by unveiling a sensor that could fit the bill. The ISOCELL HP2 promises extremely detailed photos and 8K video at 30 frames per second while still offering solid low-light capabilities. It might also capture more accurate colors in brightly-lit scenarios. The front camera may get a slight bump to 12MP as well.

It won’t surprise you to hear that Samsung is poised to give the S23 family a speed boost with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It’s supposedly over 25 percent faster than Gen 1 while offering hardware-accelerated ray tracing for more realistic lighting in games. You may see up to a fourfold improvement in AI processing, too. Qualcomm claims Gen 2 is up to 40 percent more energy efficient, and you might get emergency satellite communication in addition to WiFi 7 networking.

However, the biggest shock may be where you find that chip. Well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Samsung will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to power the Galaxy S23 in every country, rather than using its in-house Exynos chips in regions like Asia and Europe. Critics have routinely knocked Exynos-based Galaxy phones for having worse performance and battery life than their Snapdragon counterparts, but that might not be an issue this time around.

You may not see other sweeping changes, but that’s not necessarily a problem. If leaked images at Nieuwe Mobiel are accurate, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a slightly flatter design than its predecessor, addressing complaints about the 6.8-inch screen’s curved edges. You’d still find a 12MP ultra-wide camera, dual 10MP telephoto lenses, an S-Pen and up to 12GB of RAM. You may get a 1TB storage option, though, so you might not have to worry as much about that 8K footage chewing up all your free space.

Galaxy S23 and S23+

Samsung

Samsung’s more mainstream smartphones aren’t expected to receive as dramatic an update, but there could still be meaningful improvements. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and the rumored 12MP front camera might arrive alongside an ever-so-slightly larger battery. The phones could also ship with 256GB of storage as the baseline — important if you’d rather not spend extra just to hold a sizable media collection.

Otherwise we’ll probably get the familiar 6.1- and 6.6-inch displays of the Galaxy S22 line, not to mention a 50MP main rear camera, a 12MP ultra-wide and a lone 10MP telephoto. Leaked pictures at Nieuwe Mobiel suggest Samsung is redesigning the camera array to look more like that of the Ultra family, so the conspicuous camera hump of the S21 and S22 may vanish.

Galaxy Book 3 Ultra

The Tech Outlook

Samsung rarely sticks to phone introductions at Unpacked events, and there are signs a high-end laptop may be the other star of the show. Samsung’s reservation page hints at a new Galaxy Book range, while the company’s mobile experience president TM Roh makes clear in a blog post that there will be Ultra products in “more device categories” besides phones. Expect an Ultra laptop, then.

Provided a leak at The Tech Outlook is authentic, that new model would be the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra. It’s not entirely clear what that laptop might deliver, but Samsung Display said the high-end Galaxy Book line will feature OLED screens with built-in touch, much like smartphones. The Ultra is also expected to arrive in tandem with a more conventional Galaxy Book 3 Pro and a Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 convertible with pen support. We’d expect improved performance, and possibly extras like pen input and advanced display technology (this is Samsung, after all).

Wildcards: New Galaxy Tabs and Galaxy Buds

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

There hasn’t been much talk of other product unveilings at Unpacked, and there are even rumors casting doubt on potential releases. The Elecsources claim Samsung has pushed out the launch of a Galaxy Tab S9 family, possibly due to economic uncertainty and poor sales of the Tab S8 series. As it is, the company tends to wait longer between tablet revisions than it does phones — the Tab S8 arrived in early 2022 where its S7 predecessor arrived in summer 2020.

We also wouldn’t count on new earbuds. Samsung introduced the regular Galaxy Buds 2 in summer 2021, and the Buds 2 Pro a year later. Short of a revamp of the so-so Galaxy Buds Live, there’s no pressure on the company to update its in-ear audio roster.

Other products are only likely to appear at Samsung’s later events. Don’t brace yourself for new Galaxy Z foldables, Galaxy A budget phones or Galaxy Watch timepieces this early in the year.

We’ve finally got new gadgets to review! This week, Cherlynn, Devindra and Engadget’s Sam Rutherford dive into the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Max chip. Sure, it looks the same as before, but demanding users may appreciate the performance bump. Also, they discuss where the new M2 Pro-powered Mac Mini fits into Apple’s lineup. And of course, Cherlynn and Sam update us on everything they expect from Samsung’s Unpacked event next week. We’ll get the Galaxy S23, naturally, but rumors also point to new computers too.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

• MacBook Pro M2 Max review and Mac mini thoughts – 1:26

• Samsung Unpacked 2023 preview – 13:02

• Other news: Hacker leaks 2019 No Fly list – 27:14

• Microsoft announces multibillion dollar investment in OpenAI days after layoffs – 33:45

• Scientists found a colony of Emperor penguins after tracking poop markings on satellite images – 43:10

• Formovie Theater UST projector and LG CineBeam projector reviews – 47:30

• Ayaneo 2 handheld review: Like a Steam Deck, but fancier – 59:00

• Pop culture picks – 1:06:14

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks

In a new study, University of Minnesota law professors used ChatGPT AI chatbot to answer graduate exams at four courses in their school. The AI passed all four, but with an average grade of C+. The University of Minnesota group noted ChatGPT was good at addressing "basic legal rules" and summaries, but it floundered when trying to pinpoint issues relevant in a case.

When faced with business management questions in a different study, the generator was "amazing" with simple operations management and process analysis questions, but it couldn't handle advanced process questions. It even made mistakes with sixth-grade-level math – something other AI authors have struggled with.

If you're unsure whether we're ready for robot lawyers, you're not the only one. DoNotPay is a free AI-powered chatbot that can draft letters and fill out forms for various legal matters, including appeals for parking tickets. Joshua Browder, the CEO of the New York startup, announced his company's bot would represent a defendant fighting a traffic ticket in the courtroom on February 22nd. However, he received multiple jail threats from state bar prosecutors if he was to go through with his plan. DoNotPay is postponing its court case. Browder told NPR "The truth is most people can't afford lawyers. This could've shifted the balance and allowed people to use tools like ChatGPT in the courtroom that maybe could've helped them win cases."

– Mat Smith

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Tesla Cybertruck won't enter mass production until 2024

The electric pickup will only be available in small numbers this year.

During a conference call discussing Tesla's latest earnings, company chief Elon Musk said mass production of the Cybertruck, its electric pickup, won't begin until 2024. He still expects manufacturing to kick off "sometime this summer" but warned output would be "very slow" early on. Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019.

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Ayaneo 2 review: A Steam Deck Pro?

A nicer screen, way better performance, but double the price.

For people intrigued by the Steam Deck but want something with a bit more performance, the Ayaneo 2 is a great little (pricey) portable gaming PC, says Engadget's Sam Rutherford. It features a newer Ryzen 7 6800U CPU that pumps out frame rates between 25 to 40 percent higher than the Steam Deck, while its sophisticated hall sensor joysticks deliver even more responsive controls. The Ayaneo 2 also features a seven-inch bezel-less LCD display with a higher 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and tons of connectivity, thanks to three USB-C ports. Crucially, it's based on Windows 11 instead of SteamOS, which means it should run practically any game you can think of. The main downsides are somewhat short battery life (about two and a half hours on a charge), the lack of built-in touchpads and a starting price $450 higher than the Steam Deck. Yeah, that's about double.

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DOJ says it disrupted a major global ransomware group

The agency claims the infiltration has thwarted over $130 million in ransom demands.

The US Department of Justice has spent months infiltrating and disrupting the Hive ransomware group, the agency announced on Thursday. The DOJ says Hive has targeted over 1,500 victims in 80-plus countries, extorting hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments. It first infiltrated Hive's network in July 2022, providing over 300 decryption keys to Hive's current victims and more than 1,000 keys to previous victims – preventing over $130 million in ransom payments.

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Hacker arrested for trying to sell personal information of nearly every Austrian citizen

The personal data includes full names, addresses and dates of birth.

Dutch authorities arrested a hacker for obtaining and trying to sell the personal information of nearly every Austrian citizen in May 2020 – and the defendant had also offered "similar data sets" from Italy, the Netherlands and Colombia. Authorities say the hacker posted in an online forum the nine million data sets, which police say consists of "registration data" residents must provide to authorities: full names, addresses and dates of birth – but no financial info. "Since this data was freely available on the internet, it must absolutely be assumed that these registration data are, in full or in part, irrevocably in the hands of criminals," the police said.

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The best VR headsets for 2023

There's never been a better time to jump into virtual reality.

Headsets have come a long way since the launch of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive six years ago. The Meta Quest 2 has already been around for two years, and it's proven to be a very capable portable VR experience. And if you're looking for a more immersive experience, high-end PC headsets are getting cheaper (and there's the new PS VR 2 to look forward to). Read on for our top picks.

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With the launch of the Galaxy Buds 2 last year, Samsung brought premium features like active noise cancellation (ANC) to its entry-level headphones, while keeping the same $150 price as the Galaxy Buds+. If that's still too much money, you can now grab a pair at Amazon in multiple colors for just $95, for a savings of $55 or 37 percent. 

The Galaxy Buds 2 received a solid 84 Engadget Review score thanks to a number of big improvements. The biggest is the addition of ANC, along with an adjustable ambient sounds mode. While the ANC doesn't block external sounds as well as more expensive earbuds, it's a big improvement over simple passive noise cancellation They also offer improved sound quality, with ample base and balanced sound. It also offers EQ presets and the ability to control features using the Galaxy Watch 4.

They're 15 percent small and 20 percent lighter than the Galaxy Buds+, making them he company's smallest and most comfortable earbuds to date. Battery life isn't incredible at 5 hours (with ANC enabled), but the case holds an additional three full charges and it supports Qi wireless charging as well. Call quality is solid thanks to AI that helps reduce background noise.

All those features make the Galaxy Buds 2 a very solid buy, particularly at the $95 sale price that's just off the all-time low. They're designed to work best with Android devices, though so iPhone users will probably want to look elsewhere.

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Apple has "halted the development" of its own WiFi chip that was meant to replace Broadcom's in its devices "for a while," according to Ming-Chi Kuo. The notable analyst explained in a Medium post that he's basing this report on his latest survey of the semiconductor industry's foundries, equipment, packaging and testing. If you'll recall, Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the tech giant was working on its own wireless chips meant for devices slated for release in 2025. While Apple has yet to confirm the report, it's not exactly hard to believe: The tech giant has been taking steps to design and manufacture more in-house components to lessen its reliance on outside companies. 

Kuo said Apple chose to devote most of its resources to developing its next-gen A-series and M-series processors instead. That way, it can ensure that the processors for its iPhones, iPads and MacBooks can enter production over the next couple of years. The analyst also explained that it's riskier for Apple to use its own WiFi chips at a time when companies are switching their devices over to WiFi 6E. "Broadcom will be the biggest winner" in this situation, he said, since the iPhone 15 is expected to feature the new WiFi standard that allows access to the 6 GHz band.

While it's unclear if Apple will ever release its own WiFi chip, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the company's wireless chipset ambition isn't entirely dead. In Kuo's Twitter thread about the report, Gurman chimed in and said that the tech giant is still working on a combined WiFi-Bluetooth chip. Gurman previously said that the tech giant is also working on a chip that combines Bluetooth, cellular and WiFi in a single component, but he didn't say if that one is still under development.

When The Information published a piece last week that said Apple is working on a cheaper mixed-reality headset, one of its sources claimed that the device could use the company's in-house Bluetooth and WiFi chipset. That would allow Apple to keep costs and the device's final retail price low, since it wouldn't have to deal with a third party company's pricing demands.