Spotify has quietly debuted a new website where fans can purchase tickets to their favorite artists' concerts directly from the streaming platform. There's no fanfare surrounding Spotify Tickets' launch, because it's strictly a test product at the moment, and it's only selling pre-sale tickets to a limited number of artists' upcoming events. The portal's debut artists include Limbeck, Annie DiRusso, Dirty Honey, Crows, TOKiMONSTA, Four Year Strong and Osees. According to MusicAlly, the tickets Spotify will start selling today will come from the artists' pre-sale allocations for upcoming concerts.

The music streaming service already has an in-app Live Events Feed where it links to ticketing partners, including Ticketmaster, AXS, DICE, Eventbrite and See Tickets. As TechCrunch notes, the events listed on the new website aren't available on the Live Events Feed yet, though that could change in the future. Spotify Tickets' official support page says that the company sells tickets on behalf of event partners, such as venues, event promoters, fan clubs and artists themselves. That means those partners set the tickets' prices, but Spotify will charge a booking fee that it promises to make clear to buyers before they hit the purchase button.

The service could become an important revenue stream from artists who'd rather sell their own tickets. It could also help ensure that tickets are purchased by real fans and not by scalpers. The service's support page says buyers may not "resell, assign or transfer" tickets except in select states. And since buyers will need to present a government-issued ID to enter an event, they'll have to transfer ownership of a ticket if they do decide to sell it. The process is quite involved and requires sellers to contact Spotify to change the name associated with a ticket.

Spotify told us it doesn't have much to share at the moment, since the service is just a test. There's no official launch date — or even assurances that it will make its way out of the testing phase — for the product right now. The spokesperson said: "At Spotify, we routinely test new products and ideas to improve our user experience. Some of those end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as important learnings. Tickets.spotify.com is our latest test. We have no further news to share on future plans at this time."

It's just about time for Samsung's big summer event, Unpacked 2022, where we're expecting the company to show off a bunch of devices. In particular, we'll likely see new foldables and smartwatches.

The company has strongly hinted that the next Galaxy Z Fold is on the way. We'll probably see an updated Galaxy Z Flip and a next-gen Galaxy Watch or two. Rumors also suggest Samsung has a new Galaxy Buds Pro model up its sleeve. There's always the chance of a surprise or two as well.

You can watch the livestream below. Samsung's event starts at 9AM ET, but we're kicking things off at 8:30AM with our pre-show. Join Engadget Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford as they weigh in with their expert insight and break down what we expect Samsung to reveal.

Follow all of the news from Samsung's Unpacked event right here!

Kim Kardashian has teamed up with Apple on a custom version of the Beats Fit Pro. The new Beats x Kim collab is available in a trio of skin colors, which are meant to either "blend in or stand out," according to Kardashian. They are still just your standard Beats Fit Pro beneath that skin-tone plastic. But don't expect to find them at all the usual locations when they hit retail on August 17th. In-person sales are limited to 10 Apple stores (including 5th Avenue, Regent Street and Champs-Élysées) as well as several fashion chains and department stores. They’ll go on sale online, on August 16th at 10 AM ET.

Apple

It’s going to be a busy day for tech: Samsung’s big Unpacked event is kicking off at 9 AM ET, just a few hours from now. We’re expecting foldables, wearables and more and will be livestreaming all the announcements — watch with us, right here!

— Mat Smith

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Ford will reopen F-150 Lightning orders this week at a much higher starting price

Trims will cost between $4,200 and $8,900 extra.

Ford

Ford will open up orders for the next wave of F-150 Lightning reservation holders this Thursday, but those buying the electric pickup as of this week will need to dig deeper in their pockets. The automaker is bumping up the prices by between $4,200 and $8,900, depending on the trim. Ford cited "significant material cost increases and other factors."

Contiinue reading.

President Biden signs CHIPS Act to boost semiconductor production

The measure sets aside $52 billion for domestic chipmakers.

President Joe Biden has signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law. The $280 billion measure will provide significant financial assistance to American semiconductor firms. It sets aside $52 billion in tax credits and funding for US chipmakers to expand domestic production. In a rare episode of bipartisan unity, the Senate voted 64-33 in favor of the bill. “America invented the semiconductor, but over the years we let manufacturing of semiconductors move overseas,” Biden said ahead of the ceremony. He added: “A third of the core inflation last year was due to the high price of automobiles, which was driven by the shortage of semiconductors.”

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Amazon's palm payments arrive in 65-plus Whole Foods stores in California

This is the first major expansion for Amazon One in grocery stores.

Amazon's palm-reading payment technology will soon be available in more than 65 Whole Foods shops in California. As long as you link your palm and payment card to the service, you just have to hover your hand over a scanner to complete your purchase. While you still have to stop at a checkout terminal, you don't have to pull out a phone like you do with Amazon's camera-based Just Walk Out system.

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Google and Sonos are now fighting over voice assistant patents

Another lawsuit between the two companies.

Google has sued Sonos, alleging its new voice assistant violates seven patents related to its own Google Assistant tech. It’s the latest battlefront in a long-running smart speaker war between the companies, with each suing and countersuing the other. Sonos' Voice Control assistant arrived in June, letting users give commands with the phrase "Hey Sonos," much like Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant. In the complaint, Google said it "worked for years with Sonos engineers on the implementation of voice recognition and voice-activated devices control in Sonos products... even providing its Google Assistant software to Sonos for many years."

Continue reading.

Samsung's 1TB T7 Shield SSD is back to its all-time low price of $100, or $60 less than what it usually sells for on Amazon. The last time it was listed for $100 on the website was on Prime Day in July — if you missed the chance to get one at the time and now need a rugged SSD for whatever reason, you may want to head on over to its product page. The T7 Shield is a tougher version of its standard counterpart, one that's encased in a rubber casing to give it the durability needed to survive up to 9.8-foot drops. That rubber exterior with its Dynamic Thermal Guard also prevents overheating so it suffers no performance drops even while transferring massive files. In addition, the T7 Shield is resistant to water and dust.

When it comes to performance, the T7 Shield has sequential read speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s, which Samsung says are the fastest transfer speeds available today based on the USB 3.2 Gen2 standard. It employs the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard so it can keep your data secure in case you lose it. And while it only has one USB-C port, it comes with a USB Type C-to-C and a Type C-to-A cable.

Take note that the model on sale for $100 right now is the 1TB version, but you can also get the 2TB variant at a discount. The bigger capacity SSD is currently listed for $200, which is $90 less than its normal price. Both versions are available in blue, black and beige. 

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SpaceX has cleared an important hurdle that brings it closer to the Starship system's first orbital flight test. The company has successfully completed a static fire test of the Super Heavy's current prototype, the Booster 7, a month after its previous attempt ended up in in flames. SpaceX used the Booster 7 for this test again but fired only a single Raptor engine on the orbital launch pad, igniting it for a few seconds to give engineers a close look at how it's performing. 

The Booster 7 is equipped with 33 Raptor version 2 engines meant to give it lift it needs to launch both the first stage itself and its upper stage companion, the Starship spacecraft. During the company's previous static fire test attempt, the booster caught fire on the launch pad. Company chief Elon Musk revealed on Twitter back then that the issue had stemmed from the engine spin start test SpaceX had conducted and that going forward, the company "won't do a spin start test with all 33 engines at once" anymore.

In addition to testing Booster 7, SpaceX also did a static fire test on two of the six Raptor engines on Starship 24. That's the current prototype for the launch system's upper stage, and it's what will fly to space for the system's first orbital flight test. It's still unclear when SpaceX intends to send the Starship to orbit for the first time, but it likely has to conduct more testing before that happens, including static firing more of its Raptor engines. 

Urbanista has revealed its latest set of earbuds, and you may never need to toss a charging brick in your bag if you travel with them. That's because the Phoenix buds have a charging case with Exeger's Powerfoyle solar cell material. The company says this can top up the case's battery using any kind of indoor or outdoor light.

The earphones offer eight hours of playback time, according to Urbanista. The brand says the charging case has a total battery reserve of 32 hours as well. The Phoenix charging case looks much taller than cases for other true wireless earbuds, likely to ensure there's sufficient surface area for the solar cell material.

The earbuds have hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) support, along with noise-reducing microphones and a transparency mode. They have multipoint connectivity, meaning you can connect them to two devices at the same time. You'll have access to touch and voice controls, as well as deeper customization through the Urbanista mobile app. There's IPX4 water resistance too.

Urbanista

Urbanista previously used Powerfoyle tech in its Los Angeles over-ear headphones. In trying them out, we found that direct sunlight was able to charge them at a faster rate than the battery drained as a result of playback. However, the headphones charged much slower in ambient light.

It's unclear who might be able to use the Phoenix buds to their full effect. If you're outside a lot and are able to leave the case in direct sunlight while you're using the earphones, you might never need to plug in the USB-C cable to top up the battery. At the very least, it's an intriguing product that offers a look at another possible use case for the solar cell material.

The Phoenix earbuds are available in black or pink. A set costs $149/£129/€149.

Google may soon be facing its second antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice. According to Bloomberg, the DOJ is gearing up to sue the tech giant as soon as September after a year of looking into whether it's been using its dominant position to illegally control the digital ad market. The Justice Department's lawyers have reportedly been conducting another round of interviews to glean additional information that could help make their case stronger. These new interviews are expected to build on previous ones conducted much earlier on in the investigation. 

The Justice Department first filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company back in 2020, accusing it of having an unfair monopoly over search and search-related advertising. For that particular case, the agency argued that forcing Android phone manufacturers to set Google as the default search engine prevents rivals from gaining traction and ensures that the company will earn an enormous amount of money from search-related advertising. 

In the same year, Texas filed a multi-state lawsuit against Google, with the state's Attorney General accusing the company of using its "monopolistic power to control" ad pricing. The company's ad practices are under scrutiny not just in the US but in other parts of the world: The European Commission also opened a probe to look into whether Google limits rival services' access to user data for ad purposes last year. As a concession to the EU's concerns, Reuters reported in June that Google may let rival ad platforms run ads on YouTube.

While the DOJ has yet to officially file its case, Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels defended the company's ad business in a statement to Bloomberg, which says: "Our advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content, and enable small businesses to reach customers around the world. The enormous competition in online advertising has made online ads more relevant, reduced ad tech fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers."

Blizzard will stop selling Overwatch loot boxes on August 30th, the studio announced in a blog post published on Tuesday. The date coincides with the end of the game’s recently launched Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event. Blizzard notes players will still have the chance to earn free loot boxes after the 30th. Additionally, the game will automatically open any loot boxes in a player’s inventory before the launch of Overwatch 2 on October 4th. With the new game set to replace Overwatch at that point, that will ensure players don’t lose any skins and other cosmetics before the switch.

In June, Blizzard announced Overwatch 2would abandon loot boxes in favor of a seasonal battle pass and a “consistently updated” in-game store. The move came after the studio said it would not release Diablo Immortal in Belgium and the Netherlands due to laws in those countries against that kind of monetization.

Google Stadia is still very much alive and kicking — and has made some updates that will make it easier to livestream games. XDA Developers reported that Stadia will unveil a new Party Stream feature that enables players to privately broadcast their gameplay to up to nine other users, who can opt to either play or watch. Users can take advantage of Stadia’s party chat features during these streams, including emoji and voice reactions. A Google spokesperson confirmed the news to Engadget in an email.

Stadia already allows players to directly share their gameplay to YouTube. The Party Stream feature accommodates gamers who don’t want to broadcast their games to the world — but merely wants to share it with a few friends. We've already seen platforms like Discord (with its Go Live feature) tap into this need to gamestream to a select few. Party Stream also saves Stadia players the trouble of using Twitch to share games with friends, which requires downloading a third-party encoder.

Other updates include the ability for players to switch devices mid-game without ending the livestream. For example, you could stream a Stadia game from your PC and then resume playing it on your Android device— without halting the streaming session.

According to XDA Developers, Party Stream began rolling out to users on Monday and should be available to all players in the next 24 hours. Keep in mind that it is currently only limited to desktop and Android devices — but will likely expand to more devices in the future.

Amazon's palm-reading payment technology will soon be available in many more Whole Foods stores. The company is rolling out Amazon One to more than 65 Whole Foods shops in California, starting with Malibu, Montana Avenue and Santa Monica locations in Los Angeles. More stores in LA, Orange County, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Cruz will come online in the "coming weeks."

Before, palm-based payments were only available in a handful of Whole Foods stores in Austin, LA, New York City and Seattle. In California, you could also try Amazon One at the company's Style fashion store in Glendale and certain Fresh and Go locations.

As usual, One is meant to streamline retail shopping. So long as you link your palm and payment card to the service, you just have to hover your hand over a scanner to complete a purchase. While you still have to stop at a checkout terminal, you don't have to pull out a phone like you do with Amazon's camera-based Just Walk Out system.

Third-party adoption may be trickier. While Amazon has touted plans to use One at concert venues and sport stadiums, there's been a mounting backlash over worries palm data could be misused or stolen. Amazon has maintained that it holds info in secure, One-exclusive cloud storage, but politicians have still been concerned enough to grill company leadership over its practices. There's a reluctance to trust biometric tech like this, and the Whole Foods expansion isn't guaranteed to assuage people's fears.