Ahead of CES 2022, Dell is previewing a set of concept products like it usually does around this time every year. Previously, the company teased us with a Switch-like PC gaming console and a pair of dual-screen and foldable computers. This time around, Dell is showing off a few prototypes around "seamless work experiences" called Concept Flow, Concept Stanza and Concept Pari. I checked them out at a recent demo in New York (while abiding by COVID-19 protocols), and was surprised by how refined they are.

Of the three, Pari is my favorite. It's a wireless camera prototype that can magnetically attach to a compatible screen so you can place it at eye level while Zooming your colleagues. Not only does this help keep a more natural gaze as you're talking, but it also allows you to keep your notes or script up behind the camera in a sort of teleprompter setup. The magnets won't work with just any standard monitor, though; you'll need to use one with magnets built in too.

I appreciate the elegance of Dell's approach. The webcam sits in a cradle perched atop the monitor, and you remove it when you want a different angle. When it's docked, the webcam wirelessly charges (and a light is supposed to glow to indicate it's juicing up, though this wasn't happening during our demo). You can also flip the camera around to face the back of the dock when you want some privacy, so if anyone is spying on you, they'll only see the black cover. 

During my brief time with the prototype, I was able to easily pick up the webcam and attach it to the monitor. The magnets were strong enough to keep the camera in place and prevent it from sliding, yet not so strong that I had to struggle to take it off. I especially liked the stand that Dell made for Pari, which turns it into an overhead camera for top-down shots. It was convenient to pluck the camera off the screen and stick it to the magnetic disc on the stand, which looked like a thin, modern light. The version that I checked out at our demo felt slightly flimsy and I wish the disc swiveled on a hinge to offer more flexibility in angles, but given this is just a concept, I will withhold my complaints for now. 

Though Pari is a prototype at the moment, Dell has some specs to share. The device weighs about an ounce (30 grams) and this iteration has an onboard microphone. It streams 1080p video over WiFi and has a light above the lens up front to indicate when the camera is level, so you can more easily ensure your scene is straight. The cradle uses USB-C for charging, too. Since this isn't currently something the company is ready to sell, it doesn't have details on battery life, much less a possible price. 

Dell

Dell's two other concepts were more about multi-device environments. Flow, for example, uses a dock to link all the devices at your home office, like a monitor, keyboard, mouse and charger. Then, it lets your laptop wirelessly connect to them while also charging it. If you bring the laptop out of Bluetooth range, the external monitor locks and reconnects when you return with your computer. According to Dell, Flow is the result of bringing together "devices, industry standard wireless charging technology, intelligent software applications and Wi-Fi 6E docking technology to create a singular, seamless experience."

Finally, Stanza centers around an 11-inch "companion device" that's basically a thin and light tablet without ports. Dell said it "deliberately chose not to include cameras or speakers, for a distraction-free experience." You can write on it with a stylus and double tap to have your scribbles converted to digital text. As with many other note-taking apps, you can also draw a line through words to delete them. If you're drawing a Venn diagram, Dell's system can also convert your imperfect circles with squiggly lines into flawless spheres. The tablet can also serve as an additional screen onto which you can extend or mirror whatever's on your laptop screen. 

Dell

Again, since these are all just concepts, Dell doesn't have pricing or availability info to share, but it's possible we'll see aspects of these designs show up in the future products. Additionally, the company showed off another Concept yesterday called Luna, and it's a way to make PCs more sustainable by making their parts easier to replace. Dell is clearly exploring how to make products that align with industry trends (like hybrid workforce, sustainability), and we'll hopefully see some of the benefits of these in its actual products soon.

Twitter is taking another step toward becoming more accessible. On Tuesday, the company began rolling out automatic captions for videos. The feature is available on Android, iOS and its web client. On mobile, you’ll see captions appear automatically when you start watching a muted video. You can configure them to stay on even after you increase the volume on your device through the accessibility settings on your phone.

One thing to note is that only videos uploaded from today forward will include automatically generated captions. As The Verge points out, there’s also no way to report inaccurate captions currently. However, a Twitter spokesperson told the outlet it’s “always looking at ways to improve our accessibility features.”

The introduction of automatic video captions is a step forward for Twitter. As recently as last year, accessibility advocates criticized the company for introducing a feature like audio tweets without supporting them with accessibility tools. In the aftermath of the incident, the company established two accessibility teams. 

You can now place some Microsoft Teams calls with the confidence they'll be reasonably secure. The Vergenotes Microsoft has made end-to-end encryption widely available for one-on-one calls after publicly testing the feature since October. If your company's IT administrator enables E2EE and both ends of the call choose to use the feature, it should be that much harder for intruders to spy on conversations.

Microsoft cautioned that you'll lose several significant features if you use the stricter encryption, including recording, call transfers, expanding to group calls and live captions. You'll have to disable E2EE to regain those options.

This could still be important. While Teams was already using encryption both in transit and at rest, it still offered a window for decrypting content so that approved services could honor data retention records. End-to-end encryption prevents anyone beyond the intended recipients from decrypting call data — that's great for privacy, but not so hot for companies, governments and law enforcement agencies that want backdoors. It won't be surprising if authorities bristle at Microsoft's move.

In the wake of Jessica Barraza’s lawsuit last month, six more current and former female employees have come forward to accuse Tesla of fostering a culture of rampant sexual harassment at its Fremont factory in California. In separate complaints filed on Tuesday with the Superior Court in Alameda County, the women said they were consistently subjected to catcalling, unwanted advances, physical contact and discrimination while at work.

Jessica Brooks, one of the women who sued Tesla, alleges she was harassed on her first day of orientation at the automaker. She claims a supervisor told his male subordinates to “check out the new girl.” Brooks says the harassment was so constant she eventually stacked boxes around her workstation to deter her coworkers from whistling at her. Brooks also claims she complained of the situation to Tesla’s HR department. The company allegedly responded by moving Brooks to a different part of the factory instead of addressing the situation directly.

“I was so tired of the unwanted attention and the males gawking at me I proceeded to create barriers around me just so I could get some relief,” Brooks told The Washington Post. “That was something I felt necessary just so I can do my job.”

When Jessica Barraza sued Tesla last month, she said she was subjected to “nightmarish” working conditions at the company’s Fremont plant. Barraza’s lawsuit described a factory floor that looked more like “a crude, archaic construction site or frat house” than the site of one of the most advanced EV makers in the country. Most of the seven women who have sued Tesla have linked the abuse they experienced to the behavior of CEO Elon Musk. “He would make 69 or 420 jokes … which caused the technicians to be even worse,” said one of the complaints.

The suit comes on the same day five former SpaceX employees accused Musk’s other company of doing little to stop sexual harassment. We’ve reached out to Tesla for comment. The automaker does not operate a public relations department. When a federal court recently ordered Tesla to pay $137 million to a Black worker who said they were subjected to daily racist abuse at the company’s Fremont factory, the company said: “We continue to grow and improve in how we address employee concerns. Occasionally, we’ll get it wrong, and when that happens we should be held accountable.”

Tesla isn't the only company in Elon Musk's portfolio to have issues with sexual harassment. Women who previously worked at SpaceX, including mission engineer Ashley Kosak and four others speaking to The Verge, have accused the company of doing little to stop sexual harassment. Male staff reportedly made numerous unwanted advances, lewd comments and physical contact. Kosak claimed one coworker went so far as to visit her house and insist on touching her, while former intern Julia CrowleyFarenga (who sued SpaceX in 2020) said a male employee blocked her from getting hired after she reported his controlling behavior.

SpaceX was allegedly reluctant to take significant action. While the women did report incidents to SpaceX's human resources, the company appeared to be more interested in keeping the company's plans on track than on dealing with harassment. HR asked Kosak to propose solutions to sexual harassment, but there was no follow-up — and both HR lead Brian Bjelde as well as company president Gwynne Shotwell were apparently unaware of her allegations when she met them.

We've asked SpaceX for comment. In an email The Verge obtained, however, Shotwell was aware of Kosak's web essay on the matter and said HR would conduct both in-house and independent audits of its practices. She also reiterated SpaceX's "no A-hole" policy and that targets of harassment should still report incidents to HR or managers. Shotwell didn't touch on concerns of retaliation, though, and the news came just as six more Tesla workers sued over sexual harassment claims.

All of the affected women pinned the problems on a leadership and company culture that prioritized the mission over workers' wellbeing. Elon Musk sees engineers as a "resource to be mined," Kosak said, rather than people to be cared for. Throw in an overwhelmingly male workforce that leaves women isolated (one complainant likened it to a "boys' club") and women may have little chance of meaningfully addressing harassment. If that's the case, any long-term solutions may require management and policy changes, not just better enforcement of the policies that exist.

If you've managed to beat the bots and score a PlayStation 5 over the last 13 months, you now have another way to watch movies and TV for free. Amazon's IMDb TV is now available on the console in the US. The app landed on Xbox Series X/S and PS4 earlier this year.

You'll be able to check out Amazon Originals, including shows like Alex Rider and Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers. There's a growing ad-supported library of licensed shows and movies too, such as Chicago Fire, All in the Family and that classic family holiday favorite, Die Hard. Amazon and Universal also reached an agreement earlier this year to bring many of the studio's movies to IMDb TV, including The Invisible Man, F9, Despicable Me 2 and Shrek 2.

Along with gaming consoles, IMDb TV is available on smart TVs, phones and tablets and streaming platforms, including Amazon's own devices. The service expanded to the UK in September. 

Amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the US, Apple will now require all customers to wear a mask when they visit its stores across the country. The company said it would also enforce occupancy limits. The move comes after Apple recently lifted mask requirements at more than 100 of its stores nationwide ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend. “Amid rising cases in many communities, we now require that all customers join our team members in wearing masks while visiting our stores,” Apple said in a statement to Bloomberg.

In a memo obtained by the outlet, Apple said it made the decision “after reviewing the latest trends in COVID-19 case counts across the US.” The recently sequenced omicron variant is causing new concerns about the direction of the pandemic. Per CNBC, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday the new variant is spreading faster than any previous strain of COVID-19. 

“Even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned. As of Tuesday, the omicron strain represents approximately 3.0 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the US, up from 0.4 percent the week prior.

The unpredictable nature of the pandemic has forced Apple to frequently change its retail policies as the situation has evolved. The timing of this latest surge could affect the company’s bottom line as it looks to close out another busy holiday season.

There may be almost three weeks before the end of the year, but that’s not stopping Nintendo from getting in on the year-in-review action. As in 2020 and 2019, the company has a tool you can use to see how much time you spent playing your Switch throughout the last 12 months.

The 2021 iteration isn’t widely different from what Nintendo has offered in years past. You’ll once again see the total number of hours you put in throughout the year and a count of the all games you played. There’s also a breakdown of how many hours you played each month, in addition to a look back at your most active day. 

Since this is the Switch we’re talking about, you’ll see how much time you spent between handheld and docked modes, as well. At each stage, the tool will tell you how your 2021 stats compare to the ones you put up last year. You can see your year-in-review by logging into the company’s official website with your Nintendo Account. However, the tool is only available to people in the US, Canada and Latin America.

When I tested out the Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster earlier this year, I was admittedly skeptical. One of the biggest reasons was the price. I just couldn’t justify $2,000 for something so niche. But I said if the price ever fell below $1,000 I’d consider it. Well, the new Acoustasonic Player Telecaster doesn’t quite hit that benchmark, but at $1,200 it is a lot more affordable.

Obviously, something had to give for the company to shave $800 off the price, but from a pure build quality perspective it doesn’t seem like you’re losing much. The made-in-Mexico Player Acoustasonic is nearly indistinguishable from the made-in-America models. The body and neck have a similar satin finish on a combination of mahogany and spruce. And the components, from the tuners to the knobs, are exactly the same. This certainly doesn’t feel like an entry-level guitar.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

There are some physical differences, though. The most notable being the fretboard, which was ebony on the original, but is made of rosewood here. Even so, I wouldn’t say ebony is better; it’s just a slightly different experience. The rosewood fretboard, combined with the lower action out of the box, makes the new Acoustasonic Telecaster play more like an electric than an acoustic – a stark contrast to the Jazzmaster version, in my experience.

The biggest differences here are in the electronics. Where the pricier Acoustasonics have three pickups and a five-way switch for a total of 10 different guitar sounds, the Player model has just two pickups and a three-way switch with six sound options.

The Player Acoustasonic also loses the rechargeable battery and replaces it with a standard 9V. I’ll say this: The guitar chews through 9V batteries surprisingly fast, but being able to just swap in a new one (rather than wait for it to charge) is a nice convenience.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Just like the other entries in the Acoustasonic series, the main controls are basic, but a little different than your typical guitar. There’s a volume knob, but the selector doesn’t just switch pickups (though, it does that too); it switches between pairs of “voices”, while the second knob blends between the two.

Moving from back to front, the voice pairs found on the three-way switch here are Noiseless Tele and Fat Noiseless Tele, Lo-Fi Clean and Lo-Fi Crunch, Mahogany Small Body Short Scale and Rosewood Dreadnought. What’s immediately noticeable is that there are a lot fewer acoustic simulations than on the other Acoustasonics. The two models here, the Rosewood Dreadnought and Mahogany Small Body, cover a decent amount of ground. It’s very satisfying to play a simple chord loop on the Rosewood and turn the blend knob forward to the Mahogany to play leads over it.

The two acoustic voices here are good but not as convincing as they are on the Jazzmaster Acoustasonic. I attribute that to the missing third pickup: Fishman’s Acoustasonic Enhancer. The two pickups here – Fender’s Acoustasonic Noiseless and Fishman’s Under-Saddle Transducer – do an admirable job delivering electric and piezo acoustic sounds, but they’re not quite as good at delivering the variety and nuance of the Enhancer system it seems.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

That being said, I actually prefer the electric sounds on the Telecaster to the Jazzmaster. It sounds a bit more like the guitar that inspired it to my ears, and plays better with pedals. The “Fat” Tele sound has just the right amount of bite for my taste. The “lo-fi” voices are basically just the same piezo sounds you’d find in your average acoustic / electric. That’s not a bad thing, to be clear. I love the crunch of a slightly overdriven piezo pickup. If you’re banging out Neutral Milk Hotel covers or playing along with Nirvana’s Unplugged, this is the setting for you.

The dreadnought and small body voices are still more convincingly acoustic than what you’d get on your average acoustic / electric. They have depth and character that your average piezo alone can’t quite match. But those two voices alone aren’t necessarily worth the premium you’re paying here.

In fact, price remains the biggest obstacle for the Acoustasonic line. $1,200 isn’t exactly cheap for a guitar. Sure, it’s better than $2,000, but even many avid players will live their entire lives never spending more than $1,000 on a guitar. A standard made-in-Mexico Player Telecaster will set you back $800, and you can pick up a decent acoustic / electric from Fender for about $400 – and arguably those two as separate instruments are more versatile than the hybrid Acoustasonic. And the value gets even muddier when you consider that the American-made Acoustasonic Telecaster is currently on sale for $1,600.

The Acoustasonic Player Telecaster remains an almost perfect couch guitar and it’s exciting to see Fender bringing its hybrid guitar tech down to a more affordable instrument. But it’s still too expensive for most.

Now that Android 12 is making its way to more devices, Google has announced Android 12 Go Edition. When it arrives in 2022, the OS for low-cost phones will make your device up to 30 percent faster, according to the company. That adds to the 20 percent improvement Google pulled off previously with Android 11 Go Edition. The company says it has also smoothed out launch animations.

Google

If space is an issue, a new feature allows the operating system to conserve both battery life and storage by hibernating apps you don’t use frequently. Additionally, you can use Files Go to safely delete something and then recover it after 30 days. Meanwhile, an update to Nearby Share allows you to save data by transferring apps between devices. Separately, if you ever need to translate a webpage, you can now do so quickly thanks to a newly added shortcut found on the recent apps interface.

Google

In addition to performance tweaks, Android 12 Go Edition is all about privacy enhancements. Android 12’s privacy dashboard is making the jump to Go Edition. You can use it to review all the permissions your apps have access to and revoke them as needed. Additionally, you’ll see if your phone’s microphone or camera is active thanks to new privacy indicators located on the status bar. The update will also allow you to limit apps to accessing only your approximate location instead of your exact one. And if you ever want to let someone use your device, you can now open a temporary guest account directly from the lock screen. Android Go Edition 12 will automatically reset your phone once they’re done.

With today’s announcement, Google also shared that more than 200 million people globally use an Android Go Edition device daily. That’s not bad when you consider Go Edition has only been around since 2017.