Meta is introducing new parental supervision features for Quest virtual reality headsets and Instagram. The VR safety tools, which were announced in March, are rolling out worldwide. 

The parental supervision process needs to be initiated on a teen's account (the minimum age to have a Facebook account is 13). A Parent Dashboard in the Oculus app will allow parents and guardians to block apps (including web browsers), see a list of apps on the teen's account and view their friends list. A teen can ask to buy an age-restricted app, then their parent can approve or deny the request. Parents can also view headset screen time, receive alerts when an app is purchased and block the Link and Air Link features to stop teens from using PC content on their headset.

On top of that, Meta is debuting a parent education hub, which includes information about the VR supervision options. The company says it worked with industry experts, teens, parents and policymakers on these controls. It will refine the tools over time.

At the start of this year, the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK said it would hold talks with Meta over how Quest 2 complies with a children's code that's designed to protect young users. These new measures could go some way toward addressing the watchdog's concerns.

Meanwhile, Instagram's parental supervision tools, which launched in the US in March, will arrive in the UK, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France and Germany this month with some expanded options. Parents can now invite teens to set up supervision tools (rather than requests solely coming from teen accounts).

Parents and guardians can limit access to Instagram at certain times by scheduling breaks. They can view more details about an account or post their teen reports, including the person in question and the type of report. They can also see which users their teen follows and who follows them. Instagram plans to roll out the tools globally later this year.

In the UK and Ireland, Instagram is testing a nudge feature. Teens will be encouraged to look at different posts if they spend too much time with the same kind of content in the Explore tab. The aim is to prompt them to be more mindful of their Instagram use. As part of a different test, teens in certain countries may see a prompt to turn on the Take a Break feature after watching Reels for a while.

Elsewhere, Instagram is adding more resources to its educational Family Center. There's a new page that provides teens with details about privacy settings for Quest, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. Parents and guardians can access information about how to talk to kids about online safety issues.

The UK government has ended its plug-in car grant program effective immediately, it announced. The scheme first launched in 2011 with grants up to £5,000 ($6,089) or 25 percent of the cost of the car, but were gradually reduced to £1,500 ($1,827) where they sat until today. The grant ends on future sales, but will still be honored for any buyers that already applied for it. 

The program had achieved its goal of kickstarting the UK's electric revolution, the Department for Transport (DfT) said in a press release. It noted that sales of EVs increased from less than 1,000 in 2011 to nearly 100,000 in the first five months of this year alone. It added that EVs now offer "significant savings" over ICE vehicles due to the high cost of gasoline and diesel, and that owners can still get tax and other incentives. 

"The government has always been clear the plug-in car grant was temporary and previously confirmed funding until 2022-23," the government said. "Successive reductions in the size of the grant, and the number of models it covers, have had little effect on rapidly accelerating sales or on the continuously growing range of models being manufactured."

The DfT now plans to focus on charging stations, but didn't say if it planned to boost the £1.6 billion budget it had already set aside. It also pledged £300 million ($365 million) toward incentives on plug-in taxis, motorcycles, vans, trucks and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

The UK promised to eliminate ICE vehicles by 2040 as part of its Road to Zero strategy designed to cut harmful emissions. However, some EU countries like Sweden or Ireland have more ambitious plans to hit that goal by 2030 and even earlier. 

After the maximum rebate was cut from £2,500 to £1,500 just six months ago and restricted to eligible EVs to models under £32,000, the plug-in car grant program appeared to be on life support. Critics decried the reduction at the time and are likely to be scathing toward the grant's complete elimination. Potential EV buyers motivated by record gasoline prices are also likely to be unhappy about the decision.

"We need to move the market even faster... which means we should be doubling down on incentives," an industry rep told Autocar late last year. "Other global markets are already doing so whereas we are cutting, expecting the industry to subsidize the transition, and putting up prices for customers. UK drivers risk being left behind on the transition to zero-emission motoring."

The downloadable content Capcom had promised for Resident Evil Village last year now has a release date: It's called Winters' Expansion, and it will be available starting on October 28th. Capcom started developing the extra content in 2021, just a few weeks after the game was released, due "popular demand." Now Capcom producer Tsuyoshi Kanda has revealed some pertinent details about the three features included with the DLC, including the Third-Person Mode that gives you a way to play the main story in a new perspective. If you choose to play in third-person, you'll get to see Ethan as he explores the village in search of his missing daughter and shoots the undead.

Winters' Expansion also comes with The Mercenaries Additional Orders. Mercenaries Mode, an arcade-style shooting experience, unlocks after you beat the game for the first time. The DLC will add new stages to it, as well as new playable characters, including Chris Redfield and everyone's favorite nine-foot tall antagonist, Lady Dimitrescu. Finally, the expansion will show what happens to Rose, Ethan's missing daughter, 16 years after the original campaign. Rose's story will show her struggle with her "terrifying powers" and her search for a way to break free from her curse. 

Aside from the DLC, Resident Evil Re:Verse — the multiplayer freebie for the game that was supposed to come out in July 2021 — will also be available on October 28th. The PS5 versions of Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 have already dropped, though, and you can get them for free if you already own copies for the PS4.

The FAA wants SpaceX to address a number of environmental concerns before it approves an expansion of the Starbase launch facility, located on Texas’s Gulf Coast. The agency asked SpaceX to make more than 75 changes — according to an environmental impact assessment released today — before the company can use the South Texas site to launch flights to the Moon and Mars. Located near Boca Chica, Texas, the launch site has been the center of controversy after SpaceX founder Elon Musk revealed his plans to incorporate the surrounding area to support lunar missions.

As Space Newsnoted, this seems to be more of a “yellow light” than a “red light” from the FAA. The agency issued a “Finding of No Significant Impact” for SpaceX’s plans to conduct orbital launches with its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket. In a nutshell, the agency found there would be no significant environmental consequences — but is asking SpaceX to take some steps to mitigate environmental harms before it is officially cleared.

The FAA’s review will only clear SpaceX for five orbital launches per year, as well as five suborbital launches and tests. Many of the proposed changes involve Boca Chica Beach, a nearby public beach that has been subject to closures during Starship tests. The closures prompted the Sierra Club and other groups to sue government officials over what they believe is a violation of the state's constitution. SpaceX will be barred from closing the road during 18 different holidays, and will be limited to five weekend closures per year. The FAA also calls for SpaceX to limit closures to 500 hours a year for normal operations, with an added allowance of 300 hours to address any emergencies.

SpaceX seemed to take the FAA’s review in stride. “One step closer to the orbital flight test of Starship,” the company tweeted earlier today.

Michigan drivers now have the option of adorning their cars with digital license plates, which can locate lost vehicles and receive public safety alerts — for a fee. Reviver, the maker of the connected plates, announced that Michigan residents and businesses can now purchase the device (known as the RPlate) online. Consumers can choose between two models: a battery-powered plate and a hard-wired plate that includes GPS. The plates have been available for sale in California and Arizona, and the company is aiming to make them available nationwide.

But what exactly is a digital license plate? The RPlate is essentially a license plate with an HD display and LTE connectivity (as well as GPS for the hard-wired model) that includes a number of security and personalization features. Drivers can switch between dark and light modes and select personalized messages to appear at the bottom. The GPS-enabled plate also includes telematic transponders, so it can locate a lost or stolen vehicle and send alerts to your smartphone if it detects suspicious movement. There’s a companion mobile app that allows drivers to track mileage and renew their vehicle registration online. 

Reviver's digital plate also includes a couple of security features that could be overkill for some. For example, there’s a “Valet Parking” mode that lets you monitor your car remotely while it is being parked by a valet attendant and a geofencing option for family members or employees who drive the car that sends alerts if they violate the travel boundaries.

The digital license plates don’t come cheap. Both models require a subscription ($19.95 per month for battery-powered and $24.95 per month for hard-wired) and cost an additional $150 if you elect to have a professional install the plate. The company is also working on a number of new features, including integration with toll roads, parking meters and additional DMV services.

The $7,500 federal EV tax credit has been used for several years to entice consumers to make greener car purchasing decisions, but it has expired for some automakers — and they feel the government needs to remove limits on that incentive. Reuters has learned the CEOs of Ford, GM, Stellantis and Toyota sent a letter to congressional leadership asking them to eliminate the sales-based tax credit cap. The move would help counter economic factors and supply shortages that have raised the costs of producing EVs, according to the companies.

The credit currently applies to the first 200,000 cars sold by any given brand. GM and Tesla have already reached the 200,000-unit mark, while both Ford and Toyota could hit the cap this year. This doesn't affect state-level discounts. The companies hope Congress will replace the unit-based cap with a sunset date that would end the credit once the EV marketplace is "more mature."

It's not certain that enough politicians will warm up to the idea. Senator Joe Manchin, for instance, recently questioned the need for extended credits when EV demand regularly outstrips supply. And when the current Senate frequently shoots down bills without clear bipartisan support, any attempt to legislate the credit could fall apart.

The companies have strong motivations to act now, though. Republicans may regain control of one or both sides of Congress during this fall's midterm elections, and car industry execs are concerned the shift in power could kill chances of extending tax credits. Former President Trump tried to axe the credit in his proposed 2020 budget, and had the support of Republicans — the chances aren't high that the GOP will back an extension.

The customer tax breaks might not be as necessary as they once were, mind you. GM plans to sell a Chevy Equinox EV around $30,000, while Tesla has long-term plans for a $25,000 car. Although these models are years away and won't compete with the lowest-priced conventional cars, they hint at a future where EVs are genuinely affordable without government subsidies.

Diablo IV will feature a different set of monetization systems than those found in Diablo Immortal, according to Blizzard. “To be clear, D4 is a full-price game built for PC/PS/Xbox audiences,” said Diablo franchise general manager Rod Fergusson following the game’s latest showing during Microsoft’s Summer Game Fest presentation on Sunday. “We are committed to delivering an incredible breadth of content after launch, for years to come, anchored around optional cosmetic items and full story-driven expansions.”

Blizzard has similarly promised to support the recently released Immortal for a while but is doing so through an in-game marketplace where players can purchase optional cosmetics, an “empowered” battle pass and “eternal orbs,” a premium currency that can be exchanged for the game’s controversial “legendary” crests. The consensus among the gaming community is that Immortal features some of the most aggressive and predatory monetization systems found in a Blizzard game to date. One estimate suggests it would take someone 10 years or $110,000 to acquire enough “legendary gems” to equip their character with the best possible gear. Since the release of Immortal, Diablo fans have been worried that Blizzard would employ a similar set of monetization systems in Diablo 4 when that game comes out in 2023.

However, Fergusson’s statement suggests Diablo IV will be closer to Diablo III than Immortal. The former did not feature microtransactions – though it launched with a controversial in-game auction house – and Blizzard went on to support the title with a $40 expansion in 2014 and a $15 DLC in 2017 that added Diablo 2’s necromancer class to the game. Still, reading through Fergusson’s Twitter replies, you see a lot of fans expressing concern that even the mention of cosmetics could imply more microtransactions than Blizzard is suggesting. Neither Fergusson nor Diablo community lead Adam Fletcher mentioned a paid battle pass, but that’s one way Blizzard could make some cosmetics obtainable since many games, including Immortal, incorporate them as a completion reward.

Despite what Dunkin’ Donuts would have you believe, America runs on gasoline. We are a nation of drivers with a transit infrastructure geared overwhelmingly towards automobile travel (with fewer than one percent of those on US roads today being of the electric variety). We’re awash in cars (276 million were registered in the US as of 2020) with around 14 million new light duty trucks and passenger vehicles being sold annually, and nearly three times that amount (~40 million) in used cars.

Those figures slumped noticeably during the COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, but now that travel restrictions have eased and life returns to a semblance of the old “normal,” demand for vehicles has spiked dramatically since the industry’s massive nosedive in April 2020. Combine that with low supplies of new vehicles due to the ongoing global processor chip shortage, and compounded by rising interest rates brought on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price for used vehicles has skyrocketed.

For used cars up to ten years old, the average price in March stood at $33,653, 40 percent higher than the year before. Newer used cars, those 1 to 3 years old, the average price was $41,000, up 37 percent year-over-year. “With nearly empty new car lots across the country, dealers have been holding prices of newer used cars high,” CoPilot CEO and founder Pat Ryan, told CNBC in April.

People are looking longer for used cars — around 171 days on average, up from 89 before the lockdowns, according to car shopping site, CoPilot — and paying top dollar for what they find. It’s not quite as bad as the new vehicle market where paying over MSRP has become the rule, rather than the exception. Prices for used vehicles have declined slightly in recent months, down 6.4 percent from January, but remain well above the pre-pandemic average.

“It’s potentially becoming a bit deflationary in that regard,” Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive told CNBC in May, though he doubts it will immediately lead to a strong price correction. “This is not a commodity market that people are speculating, and used vehicles are assets that actually provide utility to folks.”

“We had an unusual circumstance over the last two years that stimulated demand, and we have limited supply,” he said.

Between the stiff competition, a short supply of available autos and a rapidly evolving market that takes place as much online as it does dealer lots, today’s car buyer faces some daunting prospects in their pursuit of a freshly used car. But there are still plenty of deals to be found, you just need to know where and how to look. But first, you need to decide what you’re looking for and how much you’re willing to spend for it.

What kind of car you need depends on what you plan to do with it. If you’re being unfairly forced back to the office and are looking for a daily commuter, you’re obviously going to want to look more towards smaller hatchbacks and sedans rather than commercial duty pickups — the reverse being true if you own a landscaping business. If you’ve got “$7-a-gallon-doesn’t-phase-me” money, maybe you’re better served commuting in an SUV instead. I don’t know, you do you.

Point is, you want to start with a nebulous idea of what you’ll generally use the vehicle for, then drill down through body type, drivetrain and engine types, into specific makes and models, options and model years until you’ve gotten a solid idea of what you want in a car and which cars will provide that (an excel sheet with all of this information — make, model, years to avoid or specifically look for, average price used, etc — can help you organize the process.) Then you get to take a looooong look at your bank balance and adjust your expectations accordingly.

While you’re doing your initial research, make sure to familiarize yourself with your local consumer protection laws, such as California’s Lemon Law. Doing so will help you spot any seller shenanigans before money changes hands.

Cox Automotive

As you can see in the chart above from the March 2022 Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index report, which follows the wholesale price of used vehicle sales, valuations have risen rapidly over the past two years. Before you start actively looking at vehicle listings, take a look around reputable car valuation sites like Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, Consumer Reports or JD Power’s NADA guide to get a sense of what the vehicles on your list will likely set you back. Similarly, CarFax can provide vehicle history reports indicating a vehicle’s mileage, whether it’s been in any severe accidents, its previous owner and whether it was used in a fleet like a rental car or taxi.

“When dealing with a reputable dealer, you can ask for those kinds of reports,” Todd Ingersoll, CEO and President of Ingersoll Automotive, a GM dealership group out of Danbury, CT, told Engadget. “Another good indicator is what kind of work has the dealership done to the vehicle. So you can and should ask for the repair order of what was done to the car. If it's a reputable store, and they've done great work to get the car up to snuff for sale, they want to put that on display.”

While competition for used cars is currently fierce, prospective buyers have more ways than ever to search for their next vehicle. We’re no longer limited to the selection of whatever the local dealerships and used lots have available. The traditional car buying experience is not going away.

“Most consumers, when they're buying a very expensive item, they want to see it, they want to put their hands on it, want to drive it,” Ingersoll said, but it has been augmented in recent years by the rise of online listing aggregators like CarGurus, Shift, Autotrader, Vroom, and Carvana as well as hybrid companies like CarMax, which operates both an online showroom and a network of physical car lots throughout the country.

Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

The modern car buying process has become a mixture of in-person and online channels, CarMax EVP of Strategy, Marketing and Product, Jim Lyski, told Engadget. Customers are going to “want to do some things in the store, and a retailer can provide a way to allow them to personalize their journey where they can leverage any channel that they want, and those channels are tied together in a really seamless way.”

We can already see evidence of this in the new car market, where online sales made up 30 percent of the total in 2020, up from 2 percent the year before, Alan Haig, president of automotive retail consultant group Haig Partners, told ABC News in 2021. What’s more, a Cox Automotive study from the same period found that customer satisfaction had reached record highs in 2020, with the overall process being more efficient with less time spent in physical dealerships.

Aggregators like Cavana and Vroom pull the vehicle listings of local dealer inventories and assemble them in a centralized, searchable database so you’ll be able to see what’s available both locally and in the wider region. There are going to be a lot more used cars for sale in San Francisco, CA than there will be in Sonora, CA — and there’ll be even more in the Los Angeles metroplex — so if you can’t find what you’re looking for locally, you’re going to need to expand your search area and be prepared to go to where the cars are. These sites are built to do just that. They’re also typically outfitted with handy loan and down payment calculators as well as quotes for the car you already own. You’ll want to check these listings regularly and be ready to make an offer quickly when you find what you’re looking for because the good deals on these sites go fast.

Brian Snyder / reuters

But even those don’t list every vehicle for sale in the area. Public boards like Craigslist or NextDoor are a treasure trove of highly affordable used cars that you won’t find on the larger aggregators. Of course, these are going to be private transactions so you’ll want to take the standard precautions. Meet in a public area, insist on a presale mechanic’s inspection, don’t with a big wad of cash and bring your most imposing friend along for “moral” support because seriously, this is Craigslist.

Speak to your family, friends and co-workers as well, as word of mouth is still a great way to find a used car and evaluate a dealership. “We always say the second, third and 12th cars are sold through the service department,” Ingersoll said. “How you take care of people long term, that determines how many people they refer to you.”

So, once you’ve found the car of your dreams, realized you can’t afford it, lowered your expectations and purchased something more sensible, now comes the paperwork! Depending on what state you live in you’ll have to do more than transfer title. In California for example, the DMV is going to want the bill of sale, vehicle registration, vehicle title and application and a smog certificate. You’ll also have to include the various fees like $15 for title transfer, $58 for the registration, $6 to the air quality management district and another $23 for the California Highway Patrol fee. Check with your state DMV to get a complete list of government fees and instructions for paying them online.

Lucy Nicholson / reuters

Dealership fees are another matter. In California, at least, rolling a dealership’s advertising costs into the price of a vehicle is illegal. If you’re buying a car from a dealership, be sure to ask for a comprehensive list of their fees and set about chipping off every extraneous one you can get the salesperson to accept.

So now comes the fun part wherein this reporter, one in desperate need of a car and no patience to wait for the next Maverick model year, puts his money where his keyboard is and attempts to follow his own advice in purchasing a car online. Will he find the 4Runner of his dreams? Will he get ripped off because Craisglist? Stay tuned to Engadget and find out later this summer!

Are you the sort of music listener who'll happily pay more for a set of earphones than you would on a nice computer? If so, Sony has the MP3 players for you. The company has released two ultra-high-end Walkman MP3 players aimed squarely at audiophiles. The headliner, the $3,700 NW-WM1ZM2 (pictured at left), mates an S-Master HX digital amp with "fine-tuned" capacitors, thick Kimber Kable (to link the amp to the headphone jack) and a 99.99 percent pure gold-plated, oxygen-free copper chassis — all of which supposedly contribute to "clear, expansive" output. Even the reflow soldering includes gold that purportedly boosts sound localization and widens the sound stage.

You can also expect more practical improvements from the Android-based player, including a larger five-inch (and finally 720p) display, a larger power supply and an improved upscaling algorithm for CD-quality (16-bit, 44/48kHz) audio. You'll get 256GB of expandable storage for your tunes, WiFi streaming, a USB-C port and 40 hours of battery life when playing 96kHz FLAC audio. The ZM2 supports up to 32-bit, 384kHz audio in formats like MQA and WAV, so you're more likely to be limited by your source material than your hardware.

Don't worry if that feels excessive, as there's also a lower-cost model... relatively speaking. The $1,400 NW-WM1AM2 (shown at right) offers much of the core functionality of the ZM2, but in an aluminum alloy body with 'just' a low-resistance oxygen-free copper cable. You'll also have to make do with 128GB of expandable space.

Both Walkman models are available now. As with many devices aimed at audiophiles, there's a question of whether or not the exotic components and materials will be noticeable in your listening experience. Moreover, you're limited by the lowest common denominator in your setup. Even if you listen to songs that can take advantage of the design (Apple Music's 24-bit, 192kHz hi-res lossless suddenly seems modest), you'll have to find headphones or speakers that are up to the job. Both players are mainly aimed at wealthy music fans determined to maximize audio fidelity, even if they might not hear the difference.

Turns out the Apple Watch’s motion sensors can be a useful tool for Parkinson’s patients and their physicians. The FDA has granted approval to Rune Labs to use their software paired with the Apple Watch to track symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, Reutersreported today. The San Francisco-based digital health startup has created software for watchOS that can detect common Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremors, involuntary or slow movement, rigidity and poor balance. Smartphone and other remote forms of monitoring Parkinson’s have been around for a while, but this is the first software designed for the Apple Watch that the FDA has cleared for motion disorders.

Since the Apple Watch Series 4 was first released in 2018, the wearable has been able to detect hard falls and offer advanced activity metrics. The company that same year added a Movement Disorder API to its open-source ResearchKit, opening the door for developers to create watchOS apps to track Parkinson’s and other diseases. As Rune Lab notes, the company is the first to make use of the API for commercial purposes.

The watchOS app by Rune Labs will give physicians access to patient movement data over time, which can further supplement the information they get from an in-person physical exam. Rune Labs also notes the Apple Watch’s tools aren’t capable of giving patients a complete picture of their disorder. “Of course, there are limitations to Apple's Movement Disorder kit: tremor and dyskinesia are only two symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease, and the classifiers themselves are not yet perfect,” wrote Rune Labs founder Brian Pepin last year in a blog post.

Apple has focused a lot of time and money on expanding and updating the Watch's health and fitness tracking capabilities, with many more to come in future updates. Earlier this month the FDA also cleared watchOS's AFib History feature — which monitors irregular and extremely rapid heartbeat — and will be released in the upcoming watchOS 9 update.