Samsung has revealed what it calls the "industry's first" all-in-one fingerprint security chip (IC) for payment cards. The S3B512C chip reads biometric information via a fingerprint sensor, stores and authenticates data with a tamper-proof secure element (SE) and analyzes it with a secure processor. While primarily designed for payment cards, it could also be used for "student or employee identification, membership or building access," the company said.

Samsung

Mainly, though, the new chip could make it easier for banks and others to make biometric payment cards. The solution performs in line with Mastercard's latest security specifications for payment cards, while also conforming to international security standards (CC EAL 6+) for "protecting high-value assets against significant risks," according to Samsung.

Last year, Samsung announced that it was collaborating with Mastercard on a biometric scanning payment card with a built-in fingerprint reader. It said at the time that the tech would "adopt a new security chipset from Samsung's LSI business" rather than using Mastercard's tech, so the new S3B512C chipset appears to be what it was referring to.

The chip could also allow for "faster and safer interactions when making purchases," Samsung notes. It removes the need for a PIN code and even uses anti-spoofing technology to block fraudulent methods like artificial fingerprints. 

It seems absurd that in 2022, people are still swiping cards and signing for purchases. Given Samsung's manufacturing chops and influence, however, the chip has the potential to make biometric payment cards more mainstream. Samsung didn't mention any launch customers or other details. 

Twitter is still working on a feature that will give you a way to blast tweets that can only be seen by the friends you choose. In July last year, the social network revealed that it's considering letting you designate "trusted friends" so some tweets would only be visible to them. Now, developer and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi has unearthed evidence that the feature is currently in development and that Twitter now calls it "Flock." 

It might be called differently if it gets a wider release, though — the company told The Verge that "Flock" is just a placeholder name. Based on the explanation that Paluzzi found, its current iteration will let you add up to 150 users to your list, and they'll be the only ones who can see and respond to tweets you send to the group. Any tweet you send to your Flock will be come with a notice telling your audience that they can see it because you've added them to the group. You can edit the group anytime, though, and Twitter says it won't notify anyone you remove. 

When the company first revealed that it's considering adding a trusted friends feature, it also presented another concept that would allow you to take on different personas within the same account. It's unclear if that version of the feature is no longer in development. Twitter is also testing a feature called Communities that gives you a dedicated space for groups of people with the same interests. Flock, however, was designed with your real friends in mind, similar to Instagram's Close Friends for Stories. In its statement sent to The Verge, Twitter said it's "always working on new ways to help people engage in healthy conversations, and [it's] currently exploring ways to let people share more privately."

Isaiah Thomas is a 20-year-old Amazon worker at the company's Bessemer, Alabama facility, BHM1. He is also a vocal supporter of unionizing the warehouse. In a conference with press Monday evening, he described what he believed were surveillance and retaliation by his employer, solely because of his support for collective bargaining efforts. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which has been working to represent employees at BHM1, has filed two unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board over the incident. 

In a screenshot provided by the union, a letter addressed only from "BHM1 Management" to Isaiah claims the worker was "soliciting in working areas, during working associate times." The letter concedes that these activities "may have occurred during your break time" but nonetheless contends that Isaiah was "in violation" of the company's solicitation policy. 

RWDSU, however, believes this action was itself in violation of "the settlement agreement the employer recently executed with the NLRB." That agreement, which was reported late last month, pertained to several instances of Amazon impeding union activity. The union filed a separate ULP, alleging that the company or its agents "created the impression Mr. Thomas was under surveillance." Amazon has been known to hold captive audience meetings meant to discourage union interest, and after one such meeting at BHM1 wherein Isaiah allegedly questioned a "labor relations manager," RWDSU states in its ULP that "Mr. Thomas observed the employer's agents circling his work area for no other purpose than to watch him work" and later assigned him to a different area where he could be "more easily observed."   

While RWDSU have described the letter as a "reprimand" in an email to Engadget, it's unclear if it represents a formal write-up. We've reached out for comment from Amazon.

BHM1 famously became the first large Amazon facility on US soil to hold a union vote. While the vote swung heavily in favor of the cloud-and-ecommerce giant, it was challenged on procedural grounds by RWDSU. The NLRB found merit to the challenge, ruling that Amazon had, in fact, illegally interfered with the unionization vote. Ultimately the Board determined a new vote should be held. It's scheduled to take place on February 4th (though the ballot count will not begin until the end of March.) 

Amazon is, beyond is preference for a non-unionized workforce, well known for its rate of employee attrition. Seemingly, the speed at which it churns through workers would disadvantage efforts to build a cohesive bargaining unit at BHM1. According to RWDSU, the current voter list at the facility it 6,143 people, just over half of which were present for the previous vote, which took place almost exactly one year ago. 

Big Tech has long faced accusations that it's a detriment to society, and Google thinks it can address those criticisms more directly. Axios' Ina Fried says the internet pioneer has hired James Manyika as the company's first Senior VP of Technology and Society. As Google told Engadget, the McKinsey Global Institute director will help explore tech's impact on society and shape the firm's points of view on subjects including AI, the future of work, sustainability and other areas that could make a significant difference.

Manyika will report directly to Alphabet and Google chief Sundar Pichai, and will work with outsiders as well as internal staff. He'll help build leadership on technological impact at the company, Google said, and will focus on top-level, longer-term initiatives.

The new hire appears to have the right background. Manyika has spent 28 years at McKinsey, which helps companies and governments (including tech leaders) make decisions based on economic and cultural trends like those Google hopes to address. He also serves on the boards of research institutes at Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Stanford and other top-tier schools. If anyone is likely to be aware of tech's broader effects on the world, it's him.

Google's move certainly isn't surprising. It comes as the company is facing a host of antitrust lawsuits, increasingly tougher regulations and protests over its treatment of employees. There are also claims Google and Big Tech haven't done enough to fight misinformation and are eroding privacy. The new executive won't necessarily adjust all of Google's behavior, but he could provide a more informed perspective that reduces the chances of a cultural or political backlash.

Last summer we (well, the Engadget staff at least) collectively lost our minds at the announcement of Palworld, a monster catching and battling game in the vein of Pokémon, but with guns. And labor exploitation. This past weekend developer Pocketpair dropped another trailer and well… it’s not any less shocking.

The new trailer puts the guns right up front, along with several “pals” that really look like knock-offs of Pokémon like Ampharos, Umbreon and Xerneas, among many other familiar faces. The back half of the new trailer also showcases the factory scene we saw last year, as well as some new disturbing images. 

If that wasn’t troubling enough, the Steam page is live, and the game description promises you can “sell them, butcher them to eat, give them hard labor, pillage, rob and exercise complete mayhem but this is completely up to the players to make adult decisions” with the added warning, “Just don't get caught!”

There’s still no set release date for the Japanese-developed game, but the timing of this latest trailer might be because of the impending release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus for the Switch this week. Palworld promises both open-world and multiplayer, two features that Pokémon players have been requesting for ages. But time will tell if Palworld will scratch that itch when it comes out later this year... if it's not issued a cease-and-desist first.

Don't worry about paying full price for the MacBook Air M1. Amazon is selling Apple's well-known ultraportable laptop in gold and silver for $850 after a $49 automatic discount at checkout. That's the lowest price we've seen in a while, and not much more than the record low from November.

The MacBook Air M1 may be over a year old, but there's a good reason why it remains one of our top picks for ultraportables. It's still fast for the category, completely silent (as there's no fan) and long-lasting on battery. Combine those with a superb keyboard and trackpad and this might be the laptop you want if you need to last through a long workday while juggling multiple apps.

There are still just two Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 ports, and the 720p webcam won't be thrilling. There's also the matter of timing. Rumors persist of Apple launching an M2-based MacBook Air in the spring, and it may be tempting to hold out if you're more concerned about having the latest hardware than the best price. If you need a laptop now or would rather save money, though, the M1 model is still a fine choice.

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

Google is said to be developing a new Chromecast aimed at folks who haven't splurged on a 4K TV. According to Protocol, the low-end device will harness the Google TV interface and include a remote, as well as a maximum resolution of 1080p.

The device, which could be named Chromecast HD with Google TV, is said to be capable of decoding the AV1 video codec (something the 4K-capable Chromecast with Google TV doesn't support at the hardware level). It seems likely that, given the lower resolution output, the device will cost less than the $50 Chromecast with Google TV.

It's been over three years since Google unveiled its third-gen 1080p Chromecast. That device, which is still available for $30, doesn't come with a remote and nor does it offer any native apps. Given that Roku and Amazon sell 1080p streaming devices for under $50, it's probably about time Google introduced a lower-end Chromecast with the Google TV UI, a remote and perhaps even Stadia compatibility.

It's not the first time we've heard about a Chromecast dongle with the codename "Boreal." 9to5 Google last week reported Google was working on a device with that name, but no specs were mentioned.

It's not clear if or when Google plans to release the Chromecast HD with Google TV (or whatever it's called). It doesn't seem quite splashy enough to be showcased at the annual fall hardware event, but, as Protocol notes, the company has debuted some devices at its I/O developer conference, which typically takes place in May. Other recent rumors suggest the first Google-branded smartwatch and the Pixel 6a could arrive around that time.

The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its new home. NASA has confirmed the remote observatory successfully entered its final orbit around the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (aka L2) after one last course correction burn. The telescope's primary mirror segments and secondary mirror have already been deployed, but you'll have to wait until the summer for the first imagery. NASA will spend the next several months readying the JWST for service, including a three-month optics alignment process.

The L2 orbit is crucial to the telescope's mission. It provides a largely unobstructed view of space while giving the spacecraft a cold, interference-free position that helps its instruments live up to their full potential. The JWST is expected to study the early Universe using infrared light, providing data that wouldn't be available from an Earth orbit telescope like Hubble.

The arrival is also a relief for NASA. The stakes were high given the project's $10 billion cost, of course, but it also proves that the space agency could successfully launch and deploy a sophisticated observatory far from Earth. And while they're different devices, the JWST is widely considered the spiritual successor to Hubble — with the older telescope clearly in rough shape, expectations are particularly high for the new machine.

Microsoft is finally bringing the original Surface Duo up to date... relatively speaking. As 9to5Googlenotes, the company has finally released its long-promised (and late) Android 11 upgrade for the dual-screen smartphone. The newer operating system is the main draw, of course, but you'll also find a host of Surface Duo-specific improvements.

You can now play Xbox Game Pass cloud titles using an on-screen controller, for a start. OneDrive also has an "enhanced" dual-screen interface for viewing and editing photos. There are revised app drawer and folder designs with better drag-and-drop support, while the Microsoft feed and Start widgets have received updates. You can have the Surface Duo automatically span particular apps across both screens, and set preferences for answering phone calls when the device is folded. And if you prefer handwritten memos, you can click the top button on a paired Slim Pen 2 to open OneNote.

The upgrade will likely be welcome if you've been tired of living with Android 10 for more than a year. At the same time, we'll understand if it still stings. Android 12 has already been available on other phones for weeks, and in some cases months — you're still behind, even if the gap has narrowed. While it's understandable that updates for such a unique phone would take longer, that won't be much consolation if you were hoping to keep reasonably current. 

Meta has completed the first phase of a new AI supercomputer. Once the AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) is fully built out later this year, the company believes it will be the fastest AI supercomputer on the planet, capable of "performing at nearly 5 exaflops of mixed precision compute."

The company says RSC will help researchers develop better AI models that can learn from trillions of examples. Among other things, the models will be able to build better augmented reality tools and "seamlessly analyze text, images and video together," according to Meta. Much of this work is in service of its vision for the metaverse, in which it says AI-powered apps and products will have a key role.

"We hope RSC will help us build entirely new AI systems that can, for example, power real-time voice translations to large groups of people, each speaking a different language, so they can seamlessly collaborate on a research project or play an AR game together," technical program manager Kevin Lee and software engineer Shubho Sengupta wrote in a blog post.

RSC currently has 760 Nvidia DGX A100 systems with a total of 6,080 GPUs. Meta believes the current iteration is already among the fastest AI supercomputers on the planet. Based on early benchmarks, it claims RSC can, compared with the company's older setup, run computer vision workflows up to 20 times faster and the NVIDIA Collective Communication Library more than nine times faster.

Meta says RSC can train large-scale natural language processing models three times faster as well. As such, AI models that determine whether "an action, sound or image is harmful or benign" (for example, to root out hate speech) can be trained more quickly. According to the company, that research will help protect people on current services like Facebook and Instagram, as well as in the metaverse.

Along with creating the physical infrastructure and systems to run RSC, Meta said it needed to ensure there were security and privacy controls in place to protect the real-world training data it uses. It says that by using real-world data from its production systems, instead of publicly available data sets, it can more effectively put its research to use by, for instance, identifying harmful content.

This year, Meta plans to increase the number of GPUs in RSC to 16,000. It says that will boost AI training performance by more than 2.5 times. The company, which started working on the project in early 2020, wanted RSC to train AI models on data sets up to an exabyte in size (the equivalent of 36,000 years' worth of high-quality video).

"We expect such a step function change in compute capability to enable us not only to create more accurate AI models for our existing services, but also to enable completely new user experiences, especially in the metaverse," Lee and Sengupta wrote.

Other exascale systems are being built in the US. The delayed Aurora supercomputer at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory is expected to hit 2 exaflops, while the El Capitan supercomputer, which will manage the country's nuclear stockpile, is expected to top 2 exaflops when it arrives next year.