The price of removing Chinese equipment from American wireless networks is likely to cost more than the government had anticipated. According to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, US carriers have requested approximately $5.6 billion in reimbursements to “rip and replace” their existing Huawei and ZTE infrastructure.

In 2019, the FCC voted unanimously to ban US carriers from using the Universal Service Fund to subsidize the cost of purchasing networking equipment from companies deemed a “national security threat.” The first two firms the agency added to that list were Huawei and ZTE. In 2020, former President Donald Trump signed the Secure and Trusted Telecommunications Networks Act, mandating that carriers replace equipment from the two manufacturers.

That same year, the FCC established a program to reimburse smaller telecom operators for replacing equipment the law had deemed a risk to national security. At the time, the agency estimated it would cost carriers more than $1.8 billion to comply with the order, and it subsequently set aside $1.9 billion to cover reimbursements.

“While we have more work to do to review these applications, I look forward to working with Congress to ensure that there is enough funding available for this program to advance Congress’s security goals and ensure that America will continue to lead the way on 5G security,” Rosenworcel said.

US carriers sent 181 applications to the FCC for funding support before the filing window closed on January 28th, 2022. As things stand, the agency only has enough money to grant about a third of all the requests it received.

We’ve seen Amazon discount its second-generation Echo Show 8 on a handful of occasions over the past few months. But for the first time since Black Friday, you can buy the smart display for $90. That’s a $40 savings over the device’s regular price of $130.

We gave the second-gen Echo Show 8 a score of 87 when we reviewed it last year. We praised Amazon’s smart display for its elegant minimalist design, vibrant 1,280 x 800 resolution display and handy video calling functionality. It has a digital pan-and-zoom face-tracking feature that can follow you while you move around, ensuring you’re always in frame. What’s more, that tool works with every video calling platform available for the device, including Skype and Zoom. Another thing we like about the Echo Show 8 is that it comes with stereo speakers, making it sound much better than the Echo Show 5 with its single mono speaker.

If you’re not in the market for a smart display, Amazon has discounted some of its other devices as well. You can currently pick up the company’s 4th-generation Echo speaker for $80, instead of $100 as it’s usually priced. The second-generation Echo Buds are also on sale. They’re currently $80, down from $120. Neither of those price tags represents an all-time low for their respective device, but they’re decent deals all the same. We’ll also note here Amazon has discounted the Kindle Paperwhite and Fire TV Cube in related sales.

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As part of the lead-up to the February 8th release of Sifu, developer Sloclap offered a digital deluxe version of the game through the PlayStation Store that included early access to the title. If you preordered the bundle, the studio said you would have two days to play Sifu before its official release date.

However, when the early access period began earlier today, PlayStation 4 and PS5 owners found out they couldn't download the game. In a tweet spotted by Eurogamer, developer Sloclap acknowledged the issue and said it was working with Sony to fix it quickly.

“We are aware that there are issues preventing the download of Sifu through the early access on the PlayStation Store, and are very sorry for the inconvenience,” the studio said. “We’re looking into it with PlayStation to fix it as soon as possible, and will update you on the situation very soon.”

A few hours later, Sloclap shared the promised update, noting Sony was actively investigating the issue. “We hope to have it resolved shortly,” the studio said at the time. As of the writing of this article, Sony and Sloclap have yet to fix things. It’s certainly not a good look for either party, but the studio at least promised to do what it could to make it up to its fans.

When Apple refreshed its MacBook Pro line last fall, it left the entry-level model alone. Since then, there have been rumors the company has been working on a new version of the computer that will feature its forthcoming M2 chip. Thanks to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, we now have a better idea of what to expect from the company.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman says he expects the entry-level model will follow its siblings in dropping the much-maligned Touch Bar. He notes the computer is unlikely to include the ProMotion display technology found on the 2021 MacBook Pro, meaning it won’t support a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz for smoother scrolling. Mini-LED backlighting is apparently off the table as well, so don’t expect the base model’s display to get as bright as the screens on its counterparts. Internal storage is another area where you may have to compromise if you decide to buy the new model.

According to Gurman, Apple plans to release at least four M2-powered Macs in 2022. Outside of the aforementioned MacBook Pro, the company is reportedly preparing to refresh the MacBook Air, 24-inch iMac and entry-level Mac Mini to include the latest version of its in-house silicon. There are also reports the company is working on a 27-inch iMac Pro that will feature its M1 Pro and Max chips.

Gurman didn’t say when Apple fans should expect the company to release the new MacBook Pro model. We likely won’t see the computer at the company's next hardware event. In a separate report he published earlier this week, Gurman said Apple plans to host an event sometime on or around March 8th. The company will reportedly announce a new iPhone SE and iPad Air then.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is possibly the best e-reader on the market right now, and if you've been considering picking one up, now seems like a good time. Amazon is putting the device on sale for the first time for $145, which is $45 less than the regular price of $190. Since Amazon hasn't offered a discount on the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition until now, it's an all-time-low price for the e-reader.

Amazon announced the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition in September. It's the first Kindle with wireless charging support, though if there isn't a Qi-compatible pad close by, you can charge it with a USB-C cable. Either way, don't expect to charge it often, as Amazon claims the battery can run for up to 10 weeks before you need to juice it up.

The e-reader has a 300 ppi glare-free display that Amazon claims is 10 percent brighter at max setting than previous Paperwhite models. There's a sensor that can automatically adjust the screen brightness depending on ambient light levels and warm light options that may make nighttime reading more comfortable.

The Signature Edition comes with 32GB of storage, which will be useful if you prefer to listen to audiobooks over Bluetooth. The Signature Edition is also waterproof with an IPX8 rating. Amazon says it can withstand immersion in two meters for fresh water for up to an hour and for up to three minutes in 25 cm of seawater, so users can read in the bath without worrying too much about dropping their device.

In our review, we gave the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition a score of 97, lauding it for many of the above features, as well as a larger screen with smaller bezels. Our only real bugbear was the price, which, at least temporarily, Amazon has taken some of the sting out of.

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Amazon’s Fire TV Cube has just hit its lowest price ever. The retailer has discounted the device to $70, making it $10 cheaper than it was during the holiday shopping season. Although it’s been a couple of years since Amazon released the Fire TV Cube, it’s still a compelling choice if you want the best possible streaming experience the company has to offer.

With built-in support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+, it can play 4K HDR video from virtually every streaming service out there, including Amazon's own Prime Video. It’s also no slouch in the audio department thanks to the fact it includes Dolby Vision support. Another reason to pick up the Fire TV Cube is that it doubles as an Alexa-capable speaker, allowing you to control your smart home devices with your voice. If you’ve already invested in Amazon’s Alexa ecosystem, that’s probably a less compelling reason to pick up the Fire TV Cube, but it’s still a nice feature to have in a pinch.

If your streaming needs are more modest, Amazon has also discounted the Fire TV Stick Lite. At its current $20 price, it’s only two dollars more than it was during the holiday shopping season. The Fire TV Stick Lite is a good option if you own an older TV as the stick is limited to Full HD streaming. It’s also considered the “Lite” version because you can’t use the included Alexa Voice Remote to control your TV.

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Apple has shared the first trailer for its upcoming TV+ exclusive Shining Girls. Starring Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men and The Handmaid’s Tale fame as a Chicago reporter in search of the man who assaulted her, the series will debut on April 29th with the first three episodes of the series available to stream that same day. Subsequent episodes will follow every Friday for the next five weeks.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Shining Girls also stars Hamilton actor Phillipa Soo and Wagner Moura, best known for portraying Pablo Escobar in Netflix's Narcos, as the villain of the story. The story centers around a man named Harper Curtis, a Depression-era drifter who finds a house in Chicago with doors to other time periods. Curtis uses that power to kill young women with bright potential. The protagonist of the tale, Kirby Mazrachi, survives her encounter with Curtis and then turns the tables on him.

If you recently downloaded the latest Canary release of Google Chrome, you may have noticed the icon is different. The change marks the first time in eight years that Google has redesigned the symbol representing its iconic web browser. At first glance, it doesn’t look that different, but there’s more to the refresh than meets the eye. In a Twitter thread spotted by The Verge, Google designer Elvin Hu details the thought process that went into the redesign.

If you look carefully, you’ll notice Google removed the shadows that were part of the icon, opting for a more flat design that’s in line with the company’s other products. It also changed the proportions of the symbol while brightening up the individual colors that make it up. But the most impactful change the company introduced is that it added subtle gradients to the green and red segments of the icon. Hu says the company found that certain shades of those two colors produced an “unpleasant color vibration” when placed next to one another. You can see a more apparent example of the phenomenon Hu talks about on this website. Either way, the result of the change is an icon that is “more accessible.”

Depending on where you use Chrome, you’ll see additional subtle changes. That’s because Hu says Google spent time customizing the icon to make it more at home in every operating system where you can download Chrome. On macOS, for instance, the symbol will look more three-dimensional. On iOS, meanwhile, there will be a special blueprint version of the icon tied to the beta release of the software. According to Hu, we’ll see the refreshed icon roll out over the next few months.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but a North American automaker is about to temporarily reduce its manufacturing output due to the ongoing global chip shortage. A Ford spokesperson told Reuters on Friday the automaker would cut or suspend production at eight of its factories across the US, Mexico and Canada. The shutdown will start on February 7th. Among other facilities, the decision will affect the Kansas City plant where Ford produces the F-150, one of its most popular and profitable vehicles.

This isn’t the first time Ford has felt the chip crunch, nor has it been the only automaker affected by the situation. Last September, General Motors temporarily suspended production at all but four of its North American factories amid component shortages. At the start of the year, the US Commerce Department warned semiconductor-related supply constraints would last until at least the second of half of 2022. “We aren’t even close to being out of the woods,” Department Secretary Gina Raimondo said at the time. 

Companies like Ford have taken action to address the problem. In November, the company announced a strategic partnership with GlobalFoundries to boost US semiconductor production, but the automaker likely won’t benefit from that arrangement for a while. In the meantime, Ford told Reuters it expects its production volume to “improve significantly” in the second half of the year.

HBO Max is not bringing back The Boondocks for an additional two seasons. In 2019, before the streaming service was even available, WarnerMedia announced that it had greenlit a 24-episode revival of the beloved Adult Swim animated series that was supposed to debut in the fall of 2020. In the two years since that announcement, there’s been almost no news about the series. Until now.

In an interview with the Geekset Podcast spotted by Gizmodo, Tom DuBois voice actor Cedric Yarbrough said the reboot isn’t moving forward. “I hate to say this, but right now the show is not coming back,” Yarbrough told the podcast. “Sony [Pictures Animiation]… they decided they’re going to pull the plug.” Yarbrough didn’t say why the company made that decision but noted that recording sessions for the show had started. We’ve reached out to WarnerMedia for comment.

The fact we won’t get two more seasons of The Boondocks is interesting in light of all the money WarnerMedia has spent to establish HBOMax as a destination for adult animation. Shortly after announcing the show’s revival, the company paid a reported $500 million to secure exclusive US streaming rights to South Park. It’s also tapped people like J.J. Abrams to create a new animated Batman series for the platform. The Boondocks was supposed to be one of the first releases in that push.