This week, Cherlynn and Devindra bring you the best and worst of Sundance 2022’s tech-related projects. What films coming out of the show will be worth watching when they’re released? Are VR projects easily viewable? What, if anything, did they say about the metaverse? Then, our hosts go over Samsung’s news on this year's first Unpacked launch event, Neil Young's fight against Spotify and what went down at the Antiwork subreddit.

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

• VR and AR at Sundance 2022 New Frontiers – 2:03

• Select tech films at Sundance (After Yang, TikTok Boom, We Met in Virtual Reality) – 12:25

• Preview of Samsung’s first Unpacked of 2022 – 37:03

• Neil Young vs. Spotify: Young’s music pulled over Joe Rogan’s podcast – 42:30

• Reddit’s /r/AntiWork blew up in a big way – 46:45

• Listener Mailbag – 55:50

• Working On – 1:01:00

• Interview with "We Met in Virtual Reality" director Joe Hunting – 1:03:54

Video livestream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Producer: Ben Ellman
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos, Owen Davidoff, Luke Brooks
Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Kyle Maack
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

Following the release of Unicode 14, Apple is finally starting to include the new emojis on iOS with the release of the 15.4 developer beta, Apple Insider has reported. As we detailed last summer, some of the new emojis available are "heart hands," "troll," "biting lip" and "melting face." The latter could be a popular option for our troubled times, smiling as your face literally melts while a pandemic and other strife rages on.

The final version of Unicode 14 also includes multiple skin tone variations of the handshake emoji, the one character you ironically couldn't modify for different skin shades. It took the Unicode Consortium a good two years, but they've finally got a new handshake character that's available with up to 25 different skin tone combinations. 

Unicode 14.0 has already arrived on Android 12, which has now gone out to most major smartphone brands. They're only available on Apple's iOS devices with the latest 15.4 developer beta, but will appear widely once the release comes out of beta later this year. 

After investing $4.5 billion in India's largest carrier Jio, Google is now putting up to $1 billion in Airtel, the second largest mobile operator, Airtel announced. The partnership is focusing on "affordable access to smartphones" and is part of Google's promised $10 billion investment in the country. "Our commercial and equity investment in Airtel is a continuation of our Google for India Digitization Fund's efforts to increase access to smartphones," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. 

The deal includes a $700 million investment to acquire a 1.28 percent ownership in Airtel, with another $300 million earmarked for potential commercial agreements. Specifically, Airtel and Google will work to expand on Airtel's Android device lineup via "innovative affordability programs." The companies didn't specify what those programs would entail, however.

Airtel also said that it would look at "larger strategic goals" with Google around 5G network standards, cloud ecosystems and more. "With our future ready network, digital platforms, last mile distribution and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with Google to increase the depth and breadth of India’s digital ecosystem," said Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal. 

Google previously collaborated with Jio on the low-cost $87 JioPhone Next smartphone that went on sale on November 4th price following a delay due to the global chip shortage. Jio has also received investment from Facebook and other companies. 

With a huge number of potential internet users, Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta and others have looked to India to boost growth. Both tech giants have worked to bring internet connectivity to India, Alphabet with Project Loon and Meta via Free Basics, which was later banned in India. 

Using your face to unlock your phone is great in normal times, but less than ideal when you’re masked up and avoiding germs. Apple already has a workaround in place if you own a new enough Apple Watch, and now it’s working on a fix for the rest of us. The most recent iOS developer beta enables users to open their device with just the geography of their eyes. The feature, which is currently being tested, will work with glasses users, although if you’re wearing sunglasses, you might have to take them off first.

At the same time, Apple has also reportedly been looking into enabling iPhones to work as standalone payment terminals. That way, it would be easier to settle bills between friends and, more importantly, enable small businesses to accept payments. That might pose a problem for companies like Square, who have made a name for themselves building external payment hardware for phones. But it would also give Apple a way to corner a big chunk of the payment processing market without breaking much of a sweat.

- Dan Cooper

The biggest news stories you might have missed

• The 'Mortal Kombat' movie is getting a sequel

• Dark web news site owner sentenced for role in $8.4 million kickback scheme

• NASA hopes to speed up mission scheduling with help from Microsoft's Quantum division

• FCC proposes mandatory labels that clearly explain broadband services

• Warner Music Group is building a 'musical theme park' in the metaverse

• Wyze will discontinue its first camera on February 1st

Strange Milky Way object sends radio bursts a minute at a time

Someone call Jeff Goldblum.

ICRAR

This next story works better if you imagine William Shatner circa 1979 is reading it out to you. Researchers out of Curtin University have found something… odd, out there in space, a spinning object 4,000 light-years away. It’s been sending out a giant burst of polarized radio energy for a full minute, every 18 minutes, and keeps… appearing and disappearing every few hours. It’s a curiosity that the researchers think might be a magnetar, a theoretical neutron star spinning so slowly that it causes everything to look… strange. This discovery may have… implications for how we understand… the universe.

Continue Reading.

Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance confirms plans to build 35 new EVs by 2030

Cars!

Nissan

The gang over at Renault Nissan Mitsubishi has revealed a plan to invest around $26 billion in order to bring 35 new electric vehicles to market by 2030. Five new platforms will be built, with the crew pledging that technology and components will be shared to reduce waste. That will run from super-compact all-electric city cars through to beefy battery commercial vehicles. Meanwhile, California has unveiled a $10 billion plan to increase EV adoption, including cash to build out charging networks in low-income neighborhoods and discounts for low-income buyers.

Continue Reading.

Shure Aonic 40 review: Decent ANC headphones with impressive battery life

But otherwise? Ehhhhh.

Bllly Steele

Your friend and mine Billy Steele has been road-testing the new Shure Aonic 40 ANC cans for a while, and now his verdict is out. The headphones, which are priced at $249, are designed to sit in that tier just before you start shelling out serious money for your ears. Sadly, while the price is right and the battery life is great, everything else is just a bit lukewarm for Billy’s trained ears. He also lamented the lack of comfort for bigger heads, and an overall lack of polish in the rest of the feature list.

Continue Reading.

Guerilla Games has shared some short video clips of Horizon Forbidden West gameplay captured on a PS4 Pro. Unfortunately, the developer didn't include lengthy trailers or teaser videos — and gameplay footage captured on a standard PS4 — with its post on the PlayStation blog. But this is at least some form of assurance from Guerilla that the game works on a previous-gen console a couple of weeks before it's released.

Some gamers may have become wary of titles made for the PS5 and released for older consoles after what happened to Cyberpunk 2077. The CD Projekt Red game was plagued with glitches and graphical issues, among other problems, when played on a PS4. Things had gotten so bad, Sony had to pull the PS4 version from its digital store and offer refunds for those who'd purchased it.  

The GIFs Guerilla shared show Aloy in different situations, such as walking across a village and quickly running around while shooting arrows at her enemies. In the latter, the animation looked smooth despite the explosions and the character's quick movements — hopefully, that's true for the entire game when played on a previous-gen console. Sony reportedly had to cut its production forecast for the PS5, after all, and it's still not easy finding one for purchase. Horizon Forbidden West will be available for the PS5 and the PS4 starting on February 18th.

A robot has successfully performed "keyhole" intestinal surgery on pigs without any aid from humans, according to a study from John Hopkins University (published in Science Robotics). What's more, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) handled the tricky procedure "significantly better" than human doctors. The breakthrough marks a significant step towards automated surgery that could one day help "democratize" patient care, the researchers said. 

Laparoscopic or keyhole surgery requires surgeons to manipulate and stitch intestines and other organs through tiny incisions, a technique that requires high levels of skill and has little margin for error. The team chose to do "intestinal anastomosis" (joining two ends of an intestine), a particularly challenging keyhole procedure.  

Soft tissue surgery in general is hard for robots due to the unpredictability. To deal with that, the STAR robot was equipped with specialized suturing tools and state-of-the-art imaging systems that could deliver extremely accurate visualizations. 

John Hopkins

Specifically, it had a "structural light–based three-dimensional endoscope and machine learning–based tracking algorithm" to guide the robots. "We believe an advanced three-dimensional machine vision system is essential in making intelligent surgical robots smarter and safer," said John Hopkins professor Jin Kang. On top of that, STAR is the first robotic system that can "plan, adapt and execute a surgical plan in soft tissue with minimal human intervention," said first author Hamed Saeidi. Using all that technology, the STAR robot successfully performed the procedure in four animals

Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive compared to regular surgery, which helps ensure better patient outcomes. However, because it takes so long to master, there's a relatively small pool of doctors able to do it.

"Robotic anastomosis is one way to ensure that surgical tasks that require high precision and repeatability can be performed with more accuracy and precision in every patient independent of surgeon skill," said senior author Axel Krieger from John Hopkins. "We hypothesize that this will result in a democratized surgical approach to patient care with more predictable and consistent patient outcomes."

Google has launched an Offers tab for the Play Store featuring deals on apps, games, movies, books and other purchases, Android Police has reported. It appears at the bottom of the Play screen, along with Games, Apps, Movies & TV and Books, separate from the existing "Offers and notifications" section. 

"[Offers is] a new tab in the Google Play Store app to help you discover deals in games and apps across travel, shopping, media & entertainment, fitness, and more," Google said in a blog post. When you tap on the tab, it displays multiple carousels with offers on movie rentals, apps, games and more. It includes sales on in-game items, in-app purchases and offers app trials, Android Police noted. 

Google used to have a separate Android app called "Offers," that let you find deals in your current location, but that was way back in 2011 with Android 2.1 "Eclair" when Google Play was called Android Market. Its current "Offers & notifications" section on Play is sparse and not that easy to find, while the new tab is front and center and covers a wide range of products. The Offers tab is already rolling out to the US, India and Indonesia and will arrive in other markets later this year. 

Fitness trackers and smartwatches can help keep you honest as you try to get more active and healthier in the new year. If you or someone you live is looking for a new one, Fitbit's latest sale has discounted a bunch of its latest wearables. Key among them is the Charge 5 fitness tracker, which is $60 off and down to a new record low of $120. The Versa 2 and Sense smartwatches are also on sale for $130 and $200, respectively.

Maybe you're not totally on the smartwatch bandwagon but want a wearable to track things like heart rate, steps, workouts and more. Fitbit's Charge 5 might do the trick since it's a band-style tracker and not a full-fledged smartwatch. It has a fairly low-profile design and a full-color touchscreen that supports always-on mode. Arguably more importantly, it has a bunch of sensors inside to track all-day heart rate, movement and stress.

It also has a built-in GPS, which means it'll map your outdoor runs and bike rides without the help of your smartphone. And with Fitbit Pay support, you could leave your phone at home while you go for a run and pay for a coffee on your way home without having your wallet on hand.

There are a few downsides, though, like the lack of music controls and the fact that Fitbit devices still don't integrate with Apple Health or Google Fit. However, the Charge 5 still packs a lot of value and does so even at its normal $180 price.

If you're ready to embrace the smartwatch life, or want to replace an aging wearable, Fitbit's Versa 2 or the Sense would make good options. We'd recommend the Sense over the Versa 2 purely because the latter is about a year older than the former. Also, the Sense is the most powerful smartwatch that Fitbit makes, so you'll get things like a built-in heart rate monitor and GPS, stress tracking with the EDA Scan app, an ECG monitoring app, onboard music storage, Fitbit Pay, Alexa and Google Assistant voice command support and more.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

The National Labor Relations Board has accused Amazon of threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers at its JFK8 warehouse in New York to discourage them from unionizing. According to the board's complaint as seen by Motherboard, Amazon brought a union avoidance consultant to the facility and told employees that it "would be futile for them to select the Union as their bargaining representative." The consultant reportedly said that union organizing at the warehouse would fail anyway, because the organizers were "thugs."

NLRB's complaint also said that Amazon representatives interrogated workers about union activities and promised to fix their issues if they didn't support the union and didn't distribute union literature. Further, the labor board alleges that security guards confiscated union literature from workers and told them they couldn't distribute the materials without permission. If you'll recall, Amazon's warehouse workers in New York filed a petition to unionize with the board last year, but they had to withdraw it after failing to gather enough signatures to be approved. The JFK8 workers re-filed their application in December and recently reached union vote threshold.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel denied the allegations to Motherboard, telling the publication: "These allegations are false and we look forward to showing that through this process."

These allegations come from a series of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers in May and June last year. The board investigated the incidents and found merit that they occurred. It has given Amazon February 10th to respond to the complaint and has set a hearing for it on April 5th. In addition to detailing workers' allegations in its complaint, the NLRB has also outlined a series of remedies it wants the company to follow. In particular, it wants Amazon to train its managers, supervisors, security guards and union avoidance consultants on workers' rights to organize and form unions. 

Uber's rise to prominence might have been difficult to believe even as fiction, had it not been documented at every turn by ever-more concerning reports of overreach. The quasi-legal taxi business (that likely still misclassifies an enormous number of drivers) belied a toxic boys club workplace culture where just about any avenue to get ahead— including actively deceiving cops — was the norm. We're led to believe some of those things have since changed.

Of all that can be said of the company under its original CEO Travis Kalanick, it wasn't short on depravity. Incidentally, that's the sort of thing that tends to make for good TV. 

Based on the book of the same title by New York Times reporter Mike Isaac, Super Pumped puts Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the shoes of Kalanick, chronicling the taxi-hailing app on its relentless trajectory, towards (and I don't think I'm spoiling anything here) it's widespread success, a vehement public backlash and Kalanick's eventual departure. Kyle Chandler seems poised to play the foil as venture capitalist Bill Gurley, while the trailer also teases an unusual appearance for Uma Thurman as Arianna Huffington. 

The anthology series, which is set to cover a different business leader each season, is slated to premier this February 27th. So far there's no indication of which companies will be featured after this dramatization of Uber, but there's certainly no shortage of cruel, cutthroat CEOs in the world.