No matter how many times a new Gundam statue goes up in Japan, it’s always a sight to behold. This week was no different when workers attached the head of the RX-93FF V to its body as a crowd of onlookers and journalists came to watch the spectacle.

The one-to-one recreation is a riff on Amuro Ray’s Nu Gundam from 1988’s Char’s Counterattack. It stands 81.3 feet tall and is located in front of the LaLaport shopping center in Fukuoka, the most populous city on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino was involved in the design of the statue, including the new tri-tone color scheme that adorns it.

It’s not the first one-to-one scale Gundam statue to go up in Japan. The one most people are probably familiar with is the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam that stands in Tokyo’s Odaiba district. It was a frequent sight during the 2020 Summer Olympics and the source of many a nerd faux pas during the event. Just ask the BBC and this guy.

According to The Mainichi, there are still some finishing touches workers need to add before the Gundam is complete sometime by the end of February. Hopefully the pandemic eases by then so that there's a possibility people outside of Japan can visit it. 

Intel is learning first-hand about the challenges of pleasing both its home country and China. The New York Timesreports Intel has apologized on Chinese social networks after it sent local suppliers a letter saying it wouldn't use labor and products from the province of Xinjiang. The company said it was honoring US sanctions against the province, not outlining a political viewpoint like social media users, celebrities and nationalist press had suggested.

The US applied sanctions following widespread claims the Chinese government was suppressing Xinjiang's Uyghur Muslim population. Many have accused China of human rights violations that include forced labor, internment camps and constant surveillance. China has long denied the allegations. Intel may have played a role in those violations, as its chips were used in both a spying-oriented supercomputing center and in surveillance systems police obtained despite a blocklist preventing access to US tech. Intel said it wasn't aware China was misusing its hardware.

The uproar underscores the juggling act Intel, Apple and other American tech firms maintain when operating in China. They have to respect US sanctions (as Intel will continue to do here) and frequently want to be seen embracing American notions of civil and human rights, but they also risk losing a major source of revenue if they antagonize a Chinese government eager to silence criticism. Companies have removed features, transferred data storage and otherwise made exceptions to preserve their business in China. Intel won't necessarily be pushed to make a decision after the letter, but it clearly doesn't have much leeway in situations like this.

The tussle between Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken another turn after the company reached a nationwide settlement with the agency. Amazon has agreed to remind current and former workers across the US about their labor rights on notices posted in workplaces, and on the mobile app and website for workers. Amazon will also send a copy of the notice to email addresses it has on file for any employee who worked at its facilities between March 22nd and December 22nd.

The notice informs workers that they have the legal right to join, form or assist with a union. They can select a representative to bargain with Amazon on their behalf and "act together with other employees for your benefit and protection."  

In addition, workers have more leeway to organize in company facilities. In the notice, Amazon states it will not tell them to leave a property or threaten disciplinary action "when you are exercising your right to engage in union or protected concerted activities by talking to your co-workers in exterior non-work areas during non-work time." Nor will it ask workers about union activity, or why they're speaking to co-workers, according to the notice.

It'll be easier for the NLRB to sue Amazon if the agency believes it violated the agreement. In such cases, the company agreed to let the NLRB forego an administrative hearing process, which can take a long time to complete.

“This settlement agreement provides a crucial commitment from Amazon to millions of its workers across the United States that it will not interfere with their right to act collectively to improve their workplace by forming a union or taking other collective action,” NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo told The New York Times. Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment.

The agreement is related to six cases brought forward by workers who complained Amazon was impeding their efforts to organize. The company previously settled NLRB cases on an individual basis, but this a broader agreement. The agreement includes references to employees, but not contractors, who make up the bulk of Amazon's delivery workforce. It's unclear whether they will be afforded the same rights and protections under the deal.

The NLRB and Amazon have been at odds in recent times. In November, the labor board ordered Amazon to rerun a union election at an Alabama warehouse. It said Amazon interfered with the process. Workers at other facilities have attempted to organize — those at a fulfillment center in New York are trying once again to unionize after failing to obtain enough signatures last time.

Amazon has long been criticized over working conditions. Lawmakers this week sought answers from the company over whether its policies contributed to the deaths of six people after a tornado struck a warehouse in Illinois. Amazon recently warned its workers that an even more demanding workload than usual during the holiday period could have a significant impact on their mental health.

Never mind smelling what's on screen — would you like to taste what you see? Probably not, but one scientist is pressing forward anyway. ASCII and Reuters report Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita has presented Taste the TV, a set you can lick to get the flavor of whatever's on-screen. The prototype sends electrical signals to 10 flavor canisters to create unique sprays that cover a (thankfully hygenic) film overlay.

The device has been long in development. Miyashita discussed the basic concept of a "taste synthesizer" in spring 2020, and offered an early look at the TV in October this year.

It sounds disgusting, and people would no doubt give you strange looks if you French-kissed your TV in the middle of a show. However, Miyashita doesn't necessarily see this as gimmick to add to everyday consumer screens, like 3D TV. He instead imagined lickable screens as tools for cooks and sommeliers, and even hoped to build a platform where you could download tastes like you might songs or videos. This could help you taste recipes from around the world while staying at home.

The technology might be more practical than you think, too. The professor took about a year to build the prototype himself, and he estimated a shipping version would cost the equivalent of $875 to make. Although you probably wouldn't make one the centerpiece of your living room, it might be affordable enough for the culinary industry and dedicated gourmands.

Lenovo has become the latest company to announce it won't have a physical presence at CES 2022. On Wednesday evening, the consumer and enterprise electronics manufacturer said it wouldn't have on-site personnel at the event to protect the health of its employees and customers.

"After closely monitoring the current trends surrounding COVID, it is in the best interest of the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and our communities to suspend all on-site activity in Las Vegas," the company said on Twitter. "While this is a change in plans, we are excited for you all to see our latest technology launching as scheduled on January 4th and January 5th."

Lenovo follows Amazon, Meta, Twitter and show sponsor T-Mobile in backing away from the trade show. All four said they would not attend in person due to concerns related to the new COVID-19 omicron variant. And while they're all important names in tech, they're not a hardware player in the same way Lenovo is, nor have they historically had as large of a physical presence at the show as it has in years past.

For the time being, the Consumer Technology Association, the organization that puts together CES every year, still plans to move forward with the event. "Given CES' comprehensive health measures — vaccination requirement, masking and availability of COVID-19 tests — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, as well as a rewarding experience on our digital access," the organization told TechCrunch.

There's still much that scientists don't know about omicron, but early data suggests it's a highly transmissible strain of the coronavirus. Federal health officials said on Monday the variant accounted for 73 percent of all new cases nationwide the week ending December 18th. It made up 12.6 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the US just seven days earlier. In some areas of the country, including parts of New York states and the Pacific Northwest, the variant's share was even higher. Scientists have also found most non-mRNA vaccines, including Sinovac and Sinophram, offer little protection against the strain. It's understandable then why many companies want to play it safe, and it's fair to say Lenovo probably won't be the last to pull out of CES 2022.

Vodafone has turned the first text message into a non-fungible token (NFT). It sold at a Paris auction house this week for €132,680 ($150,000) worth of Ether. The company will donate the proceeds to the United Nations Refugee Agency to support forcibly displaced people.

Just over 29 years ago, Richard Jarvis, then a director of Vodafone, received the first text message from programmer Neil Papworth. Suitably enough, given that it was sent in December, the SMS read "Merry Christmas." Although the content of the text message wasn't exactly exciting, it laid the foundation for the next several decades of communications.

The anonymous auction winner will receive a copy of the communication protocol for the SMS, as CNN notes. They'll also get a certificate of authenticity and a digital frame that displays an animation of a phone receiving the message.

It's yet another telecommunications landmark that has been turned into an NFT. Also in December, Jimmy Wales sold an NFT of the first Wikipedia edit at auction for $750,000. Earlier this year, Tim Berners-Lee minted the web's source code as an NFT and sold it for charity.

In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Crisis Text Line can be reached by texting HOME to 741741 (US), 686868 (Canada), or 85258 (UK). Wikipedia maintains a list of crisis lines for people outside of those countries.

Amazon is hitting the tail end of peak – the term the company uses to refer to the winter holidays, as well as its own corporate holiday, Prime Day – when its workers are under the greatest strain, frequently required to clock mandatory overtime hours and are disallowed from scheduling any vacation days. It also coincides with the hiring of a deluge of temporary workers, with a projected 150,000 added this year, its largest holiday surge to date.

It's hectic during the best of times. But according to an internal email viewed by Engadget, and the testimonies of four current or former associates who were granted anonymity for fear of reprisal, it's also a time of year when Amazon expects some number of its workforce to take out their stress on their colleagues, or on themselves.

"Peak is a busy time for our entire team as everyone is dedicated to helping customers receive their holiday packages on time. It's easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed," the leaked email, dated November 23, reads. "And while most of us never pose a risk to others, some people can act out in a way that causes concern. This could be due to many factors in their lives, not just what they experience at work. Regardless of the cause, workplace violence is never the answer." [Emphasis theirs]

The worker who provided the email to Engadget could not recall similar messaging during previous peaks. "I've been with Amazon a little over four years now and they've never mentioned anything about our mental status until now," they wrote in an email. "Our leadership hasn't announced anything [other] than quota related issues."

The email goes on to draw a connection between the grueling workload of peak and the potential for self-harm. "Remember that your mental health matters," it reads. "If you experience stress, feelings of depression, anxiety, or thoughts of suicide, please talk with your manager, a human resources business partner, or a mental health professional." It directs workers to use the company's "free, confidential counselors and other resources."

Two of the associates who spoke to Engadget recalled being shown a video, covering similar subject matter, during their training.

"It was stupid things like call the employee resource center, and talking about 'if you feel like you want to harm somebody you can tell your supervisor and you'll be allowed to leave work and go home.' It was just such bullshit," one recalled. The same associate stated that the employee resource center is "like a black hole of 'press one for this', I don't even know how to talk to a real person there."

"They have a number you call if you start feeling suicidal or depressed from working too much," another told Engadget. "They put a video on during training where they talked about how a lot of workers feel this way. And that was right after the reveal that we were not getting the schedules we wanted and we had to work 60 hours a week. After being told it would be 40."

A 2019 report in the Daily Beast publicized some of the 911 calls that had been made from inside several of Amazon's warehouses, including a pregnant worker who threatened to stab herself and her unborn child. Jace Crouch, a former employee quoted in the story, said that "people having breakdowns [are] a regular occurrence" within these facilities.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to answer specific questions sent by Engadget, including whether the company had seen any uptick in workplace violence. Instead the company provided the following statement: “We know it’s been a tough year and a half for everyone, and like most large companies, we work to support our teams in many different ways. This includes providing resources throughout the year for anyone who may be dealing with stress in their personal lives or at work, and making sure they feel seen and able to ask for help if they need it.”

Are you a tech worker with concerns about your job, safety, or the work you're required to do? Reach out to me confidentially on Signal at 646.983.9846

Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral pill will already have some competition in the US. As the Associated Pressreports, the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization for Merck's Molnupiravir pill. The treatment limits replication of SARS-CoV-2 by inserting "errors" in the virus' genetic code while an infection is relatively young, ideally preventing mild or moderate cases from becoming severe in high-risk patients.

The medicine might not get as much use as Pfizer's Paxlovid, however. Merck's offering will only be available to those 18 years or older versus 12 years for Pfizer's, as there are concerns it might affect bone and cartilage development in younger patients. There are also warnings against using it during pregnancy or while attempting to conceive — the FDA said people should use birth control both during and after treatment, with women waiting days and men waiting three months.

Molnupiravir also doesn't appear to be as effective as Paxlovid. While Pfizer's solution reduced hospitalization and death by as much as 90 percent, Merck's only managed 30 percent. This pill may become the secondary option, particularly in situations where Paxlovid isn't available. Both companies' products are expected to remain effective against the virus' Omicron variant as they don't target mutating spike proteins.

Still, this might become another useful tool for minimizing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Pfizer's pill will be the most readily available when the US is ordering enough to treat 10 million patients, but there will be enough of Merck's drug to address 3.1 million. Even if the effectiveness is limited, that could spare hundreds of thousands of people from the worst the disease has to offer.

The multibillion dollar industry of game streamers, beauty vloggers, podcast producers, fitness influencers, newsletter writers and other social media stars who make up the “creator economy,” began long before 2021. Yet 2021 saw more platforms throw more money and resources at independent content creators than ever before.

This year, companies that had previously shown little interest in courting “influencers” or building relationships with creators began to invest in building monetization tools for them. And even more established, creator-friendly companies significantly ramped up their investments with new funds and tools.

Twitter, which had previously only ever had a single monetization feature — a video centric tool used by publishers — opted to reorient its entire platform around creators. It built Super Follows, a Patreon-esque subscription service for influencers. It launched Ticketed Spaces, so people could make money from its burgeoning live audio feature. It launched in-app tripping, and started building a newsletter platform.

Snapchat, which at one time actively shunned the idea of influencers, just announced that it had funneled more than $250 million to creators via its Spotlight feature, which launched at the end of 2020. Some of the app’s biggest stars are even getting their own shows in Snapchat Discover.

Facebook also took a renewed interest in the influencers and content creators who had long asked for more opportunities from the platform. Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly labeled creators as one of the company's top priorities and announced a plan to invest $1 billion into tools for them by the end of 2022. Since then, Facebook and Instagram have launched a dizzying number of creator-focused updates and monetization features.

Platforms not traditionally associated with influencers also began throwing money at creators and monetization features. Pinterest launched a $500,000 creator fund and built its first monetization tools. LinkedIn — yes, that LinkedIn — announced a $25 million fund. Clubhouse added tipping. Tumblr, meanwhile, launched a subscription service for its bloggers.

Even YouTube, the most established platform for creators to make money, identified “growing the creator economy” as its top 2021 priority. It launched an all-new $100 million fund just for Shorts, its TikTok-like feature. TikTok itself, which started a $200 million fund in 2020, also launched new monetization features.

With all that money flowing in, it’s no surprise that the number of individual creators also boomed. One report from payments company Stripe, which powers payments for dozens of influencer platforms, found that the number of creators was up 48 percent in 2021, compared with 2020. And that’s just a “fraction” of the total ecosystem, according to the company.

“If the recent exponential growth of the creator economy keeps up, these 50 platforms could be supporting more than 15.5 million creators in five years,” the company wrote.

Stripe

Growth wasn’t limited just to the major platforms, either. Startups catering to content makers and their needs also surged, with more than $3.7 billion in funding going toward “startups focused on creators,” according to a report in The Information.

One of the main drivers of this surge in activity was the pandemic. While creators were making money long before the pandemic, the industry was almost perfectly primed to absorb many of the changes brought on by it.

“I think the pandemic definitely turbocharged the creator economy through both necessity and through choice,” Li Jin, founder of Atelier Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in the creator economy, said in an interview earlier this year.

“Necessity meaning a lot of people were left without offline alternatives for work and income and had to turn to online platforms in order to continue their creative careers. And choice in the sense that obviously we had a lot of free time during the pandemic where we were just kind of stuck at home. I think a lot of people took that time and they started creating content.”

At the same time, the pandemic also seems to have shifted the way that many people think about work itself. While this year was full of hand-wringing about labor shortages and whether or not people want to go back to work, it’s not difficult to understand why some, particularly younger people, might opt for a different path. Zuckerberg described the shift as “​​people being able to make a living by expressing their creativity and by doing things they want to do, rather than things they have to.” Creators, he has said, deserve to be “rewarded” for their work,

But as Jin and others have pointed out, major platforms aren’t suddenly embracing creators just because they care about helping them create sustainable independent businesses. The economics are ultimately weighted in their favor as well.

Creators are responsible for a significant amount of engagement on their platforms of choice. If enough of an app’s biggest stars leave, they could take large chunks of users with them. Revenue from creators could also one day help Facebook generate income beyond advertising. Zuckerberg has pledged not to take a cut of their earnings until 2023, but even a relatively small commission could eventually add up to a significant amount. Likewise, Twitter has said it plans to take a 20 percent cut of Super Follow subscriptions from its highest-earning creators, though it could still be some time before the feature makes serious cash for anyone.

Creators are also crucial to drawing in new users and keeping platforms’ existing ones entertained. For Facebook, they could help the company avoid, or at least dampen, the “existential threat” of declining teen users. Snapchat has touted Spotlight as a key source of growth. Even LinkedIn has said creators can help their users get “better at what they do.”

Ultimately, though, it’s the platforms that will benefit most from creators, according to Jin. “Nothing is done purely altruistically,” she said. “It's to strengthen the company and their profitability.”

Don't worry if you're scrambling for a last-minute audio gift or IOU — you have good timing. Best Buy is selling the Jabra Elite 85t true wireless earbuds for an all-time low price of $140, a sizeable $90 below the usual price. You'll have to be happy with one color to get that price, and the deal is only available for today (December 23rd), but it's difficult to object when this undercuts even the Black Friday pricing from a month earlier.

The Elite 85t might be your choice if you prize active noise cancelling first and foremost. The earbuds do a superb job of blocking outside noises, whether it's a busy city or a raucous household, and you can customize the ANC levels to filter just enough sounds. They're also comfortable for extended periods and offer wireless charging you don't always get at this sale price.

There are limitations. The audio quality is good but not stunning, and you won't find special tricks like spatial audio or tight integration with specific phones. At $140, though, you probably won't mind — this is a viable alternative to AirPods, Galaxy Buds and other go-tos for portable listening.

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