Samsung Electronics has unveiled its latest 200-megapixel camera sensor with some of the tiniest pixels yet, which it says will allow manufacturers to keep their premium smartphones slim. At the same time, the HP3 sensor packs technology like autofocus capability in every pixel, binning for better low light capability and multi-gain ISO for maximum dynamic range. 

The sensor is 1/1.4-inches in size, fairly large for a smartphone but extremely tiny for a 200-megapixel sensor. Samsung claims that it has the industry's smallest pixels at 0.56 microns, 20 percent smaller than the 0.64 micron pixels of the ISOCELL HP1 launched last year. However, that's not quite accurate, as Chinese manufacturer Omnivision unveiled a 200-megapixel sensor with the same 0.56 micron pixel size back in February. 

Samsung

Still, Samsung's sensor has some nice tech tricks. Each pixel has autofocus detection capability and the "Super QPD" tech uses a single lens over four pixels that allows for quicker and more accurate autofocus. It can also bin four 0.56 micron pixels into a larger 1.12 micron 50-megapixel sensor for better low light capability, or even combine 16 pixels into one 2.24 microns in size. That's still considerably smaller than most camera sensor pixels (Sony's 61-megapixel full-frame A7R IV sensor has 3.76 micron pixels), but should allow for decent low-light shooting capability. 

In addition to high-res photos, it allows for 8K video at 30fps and 4K at 120fps, while using nearly the full sensor width. Finally, it offers 14-bit color depth (4 trillion colors), quadrupling the 12-bit depth of most smartphone sensors. Mass production is set to begin this year, and you'll probably see 200-megapixel phones using the sensor in 2023. 

eBay truly has fully embraced non-fungible tokens: The e-commerce company has acquired KnownOrigin, an established marketplace for digital art NFTs. As CoinDesk notes, eBay hasn't disclosed how much it paid for the marketplace, but it said in its announced that the purchase is an "important step in [its] tech-led reimagination." KnownOrigin has been around since 2018 and gives artists a platform they can use to create and sell their art as NFTs in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. Based on information from DappRadar, which tracks data on decentralized apps, KnownOrigin has facilitated $7.8 million worth of NFT transactions since its inception. 

Jamie Iannone, eBay CEO, said in a statement:

"eBay is the first stop for people across the globe who are searching for that perfect, hard-to-find, or unique addition to their collection and, with this acquisition, we will remain a leading site as our community is increasingly adding digital collectibles."

eBay made its first foray into NFTs as part of its "tech-led reimagination" last year. It allowed the sale of NFTs on its platform in May 2021 for sellers that meet the company's standards. Back then, it told Reuters that it will add more capabilities "that bring blockchain-driven collectibles" to its platform. This May, the company launched an NFT collection of its own, releasing 13 limited-edition digital collectibles that feature 3D-animated renders of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. In fact, we can expect the company to launch more NFT collections throughout the year. eBay and OneOf, its Web3 partner for the Gretzky drop, said they plan to release more NFTs in the coming months featuring other athletes and updated versions of iconic Sports Illustrated covers.

At Amazon’s Re:Mars conference, Alexa’s senior vice-president Rohit Prasad exhibited a startling new voice assistant capability: the supposed ability to mimic voices. So far, there's no timeline whatsoever as to when or if this feature will be released to the public.

Stranger still, Amazon framed this copycatting ability as a way to commemorate lost loved ones. It played a demonstration video in which Alexa read to a child in the voice of his recently deceased grandmother. Prasad stressed that the company was seeking ways to make AI as personal as possible. “While AI can’t eliminate that pain of loss, he said, "it can definitely make the memories last.” An Amazon spokesperson told Engadget that the new skill can create a synthetic voiceprint after being trained on as little as a minute of audio of the individual it's supposed to be replicating.

Security experts have long held concerns that deep fake audio tools, which use text-to-speech technology to create synthetic voices, would pave the way for a flood of new scams. Voice cloning software has enabled a number of crimes, such as a 2020 incident in the United Arab Emirates where fraudsters fooled a bank manager into transferring $35 million after they impersonated a company director. But deep fake audio crimes are still relatively unusual, and the tools available to scammers are, for now, relatively primitive.

If you’re an iOS user, you’re likely used to tapping “Report Junk” any time you receive a spam iMessage, which sends the information directly to Apple. MacRumorsreported that junk SMS messages will soon be included in the reporting feature on iOS 16 beta 2, which was released today for developers and will roll out to the public this July. Apple is only rolling out the feature for certain carriers but hasn't specified which ones. 

Users who flag SMS messages as junk will be sending the number and content of the text to both Apple and their phone or device’s carrier. Reporting unwanted texts to a phone carrier normally requires forwarding the entire message to a four-digit number (that most people likely have to look up), so wrapping this feature into the upcoming iOS update will save users a step. Reporting a message as junk doesn’t block the number, so users will still have to do this manually. 

If you’ve noticed an uptick in suspicious texts that offer free gift cards or delivery alerts for packages you didn’t order, you’re not imagining things. Spam and scam SMS messages are on the rise, partly due to data breaches and the availability of software that makes it easy for scammers to send such messages in bulk. Nearly 12 billion spam texts were sent in the month of May in the US, according to an estimate from spam blocking app RoboKiller.

If you’re nervous about installing the beta version of iOS 16, you’ll only have to wait a little while — Apple expects to officially release iOS 16 to the public in the fall.

As teased at I/O, you no longer need to get Wear OS 3 smartwatches from Samsung — though you will pay for the privilege. The Vergenotes Montblanc has introduced the Summit 3, a significant upgrade to the German brand's luxury timepieces. The improved Google software (including better performance) is the most noticeable update, but you'll also get a much-needed leap from the Summit 2's 2018-era Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip to the (still somewhat old) Wear 4100+. Expect more responsive wristwear that lasts longer on a charge.

The standout feature remains the upscale design. The conventionally styled case is made from light-but-strong titanium, and you'll get both leather and rubber straps to suit various occasions. Some watch faces also mimic Montblanc mechanical models like the 1858 Geosphere. You can otherwise expect typical high-end smartwatch features like blood oxygen monitoring, sleep tracking and Google Pay support.

The Summit 3 will be available worldwide on July 15th. Like with earlier Montblanc smartwatches, though, you're paying for the combination of classic watchmaking expertise with modern technology — the new model will sell for $1,290. That's a bargain compared to the $1,800 TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 and the $3,400 Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon Light Up, but it's a sharp jump from the $300 you'll currently pay for a 42mm Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. This is for well-off enthusiasts who want a tech accessory for formal galas — and won't balk at the cost of upgrading a few years later.

More affordable Wear OS 3 watches are coming from brands like Fossil, Mobvoi, Samsung and Google itself. For now, though, you'll still have few choices.

Creative Assembly is best known for deliberately-paced games like Alien: Isolation and the Total War series, but it's about jump headlong into the multiplayer action realm. The developer is partnering with Sega to introduceHyenas, a team-based shooter coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PCs in 2023. The title takes its cue from tech headlines, but also doesn't take itself (or its gameplay mechanics) too seriously.

You join three-person teams to raid spaceship shopping malls for the coveted merch left behind by Mars billionaires. You'll have to compete against four other loot-seeking teams while simultaneously dealing with security systems, hired goons and zero-gravity. You can not only flip gravity on and off, but use bridge-making goo and other special abilities to claim the upper hand. And yes, it's pretty silly — you can expect appearances from Richard Nixon masks, Sonic the Hedgehog merch and Pez dispensers.

The creators are currently accepting sign-ups for a closed alpha test on PCs. They've also made clear there will be no "pay to win" systems. While that suggests you might have the option of buying cosmetic items, your success should depend solely on talent. It's just a question of whether Hyenas will be good enough to pry gamers away from multiplayer shooter mainstays like the Call of Duty series or Fortnite.

Your favorite podcast might soon have an official, easy-to-find forum. Meta has teamed up with podcast giant Acast to offer exclusive Facebook Groups for podcasts using Acast+ paid subscriptions. Link your membership to your Facebook account and you'll have a ready-made place to discuss the latest episode with fellow fans — you won't have to hunt for a message board or use social network hashtags. You'll also get exclusives like livestreams and Q&A sessions with show hosts.

The two companies didn't say when subscriber groups would be available. Several podcasts are involved in a testing period, including the beauty show Fat Mascara. The price you'll pay will likely vary, but podcasters can enable Acast+ for free. 

Meta has struggled to compete in the podcasting realm, and began shutting down services in early June. The deal keeps the company involved in the category, however. The social media company can benefit from the rise of paid podcasts (through increased use of its services) without having to pour resources into creating or distributing content. This is the first time a podcast company is using Facebook's new platform for Interoperable Subscriber Groups, but it might not be the last if Acast's partnership proves successful.

Twitter has finally shown off its long-rumored feature for long form writing. The company confirmed that it’s beginning to test a new “Notes” feature, which will allow writers to publish freeform content on Twitter without a character limit.

Notes are essentially blog posts that appear within Twitter without the typical limitations of a tweet. There are no character limits, and writers can embed photos, videos and other tweets within a Note. Writers can also share their Notes via tweets, and their published Notes will appear on their Twitter profiles.

Notes could significantly change how writers interact with their followers, and give them more flexibility than the typical tweetstorm. In a Note announcing the launch, Twitter’s editorial director Rembert Browne wrote that Notes are meant to give writers an alternative to the lengthy threads without having to publish writing elsewhere and share it back to Twitter. “Since the company's earliest days, writers have depended on Twitter to share their work, get noticed, be read, create conversation — everything but the actual writing,” Browne wrote. “With Notes, the goal is to fill in that missing piece and help writers find whatever type of success they desire.”

For now, the feature is available to a “small group of writers” from Canada, Ghana, the United Kingdom, and the United States, though the company says it will eventually expand the test group as it gathers feedback. Notes is part of a broader push by Twitter to build features for writers. The company also renamed Revue, the newsletter company it acquired last year, to Twitter Write. So far, it’s unclear how Revue newsletters may be incorporated into Notes.

Facebook Pay is becoming Meta Pay. Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebranding on Wednesday, calling the change a “first step” toward Meta creating a digital wallet for its vision of the metaverse. In the immediate future, the software won’t change too much. You can still use it to send your friends and family members money over Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as to pay for purchases and donate to charitable causes.

Moving forward, however, Zuckerberg says he envisions a future where Meta Pay will function as a universal wallet for all the digital items you buy or create in the metaverse. “Proof of ownership will be important, especially if you want to take some of these items with you across different services,” he said. “Ideally, you should be able to sign into any metaverse experience and everything you've bought should be right there.”

Put another way, Zuckerberg hopes that Meta Pay becomes the de-facto wallet of the metaverse. He admits the kind of interoperability he’s describing is a long way away but claims it would “deliver much better experiences for people and larger opportunities for creators.” It almost goes without saying, but Meta would almost certainly be the greatest beneficiary of the ecosystem Zuckerberg describes. The company recently confirmed it’s taking a nearly 48 percent cut from digital asset sales in Horizon Worlds. A wallet app is another way for the company to earn money on the back of metaverse creators.

The Food and Drug Administration could be set to bring the hammer down on vape pen maker Juul. The agency is preparing to order it to stop selling e-cigarettes in the US and the decision could come as soon as today, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Along with other e-cigarette makers, Juul was required to submit its products to the FDA for review in 2020. The agency has been looking into the possible benefits of vaping as an alternative to cigarettes, but the popularity of the products among young people has caused concern. The FDA has already cleared products from Juul's rivals, Reynolds American (which is behind the Vuse brand) and NJOY.

The FDA has been scrutinizing Juul for several years. It seized marketing materials from the company for review in 2018 over concerns about underage vaping. In 2019, the FDA criticized the company for telling students its products were "totally safe" after it accused Juul of undermining efforts to clamp down on teen vaping.

The agency limited sales of flavored e-cigarettes in 2018 and banned several variants outright in early 2020 in an attempt to reduce the appeal of vaping among teens. Juul pre-empted that ban (perhaps in an attempt to get in the good graces of regulators and the public) when it stopped sales of mint- and fruit-flavored vape pods in 2019.

Several states have sued Juul, alleging that it targeted minors with marketing. It paid $40 million to settle a North Carolina suit in 2021, and a $22.5 million settlement in Washington state earlier this year. The Federal Trade Commission has also reportedly looked into Juul's marketing tactics.

Juul will have the option of appealing a federal ban on sales of its products, if the FDA does take that step, or challenging it in court. Some observers have suggested that the company may ask for a stay while the agency reviews a version of the vape pen that has age verification tech. Engadget has contacted Juul for comment.

A blanket ban would likely prove devastating for Juul's business. The WSJ notes that the vast majority of the company's revenue comes from the US. Juul became the top e-cigarette brand in the country a few years ago, but sales have dropped and it's now said to be in second place in the US market behind Vuse.

Meanwhile, the FDA is aiming to remove nearly all nicotine from cigarettes to make them less addictive. That could lead to millions of smokers switching to vaping or giving up smoking entirely.